Dear Emp. N. I.,
You forgot to colour in the present day countries of Lithuania and Latvia. I did not see a red dot near San Francisco to represent Fort Rossiya (Fort Ross).
In regard to Russian-America on the map circa 1850, I believe that it reflects an earlier period, say 1810. In 1821 Tsar Aleksander I of Russia decreed that all lands along the Pacific Ocean from the Bering Strait to 51° north latitude belonged to Russia and that henceforth foreign shipping would be prohibited within 160 km (100 mi) of the claimed lands. This claim bit deep into the Oregon Territory, and, on US President Monroe's instructions, John Quincy Adams sent the Russian minister a note refusing to recognize the tsar's decree:
“We should contest the right of Russia to any territorial establishment on this continent,” wrote Adams, adding that “we should assume distinctly the principle that the American continents are no longer subjects for any new European colonial establishments.” The tsar's claim was untenable, and he backed down. In April 1824, Russia signed a treaty agreeing to form no settlements on the northwest coast south of 54°40' north latitude, with the United States agreeing to make no settlements north of that line.
The line represented the approximate boundary between Alaska, which was the only part of North America that Russia had colonized extensively, and the Oregon country, to which the United States had a claim by virtue of exploration.
In 1839, the Hudson Bay Company and the Russian American Fur Company signed an accord in which the Russians gave up claim to the Yukon and parts of present day British Columbia.
David
