Reprint of the original, first published in 1885.

The Russian-American Company was a state-sponsored chartered company formed largely on the basis of the United American Company. The company was chartered by Tsar Paul I in the Ukase of 1799. Its mission was to establish new settlements in Russian America, conduct trade with natives, and carry out an expanded colonization program. The focus of this thesis is on the economic history of the Russian American Company in California designed to answer such questions as: Why did the Russian Company come? Who were the people involved? What did the Russian farms look like and what did the Company do?