6. Scan the text. Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov – the Founder of Russian Business in NorthAmerica

By the end of the 17^th century, practically all leading European powers showed a great interest in the northern part of the Pacific. The Russians were little by little pushing out of their own lands. To win the competition with the Europeans, Russian fur hunting enterprise had to be established soundly.

Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov, an Irkutsk salesman, serving to merchant Golikov, who grew rich in fur trading, was the first to grasp the matter. Thanks to successful marriage he became independent and together with other Irkutsk merchants organized a hunting expedition to America. They decided to set up trading stations on the American shores as their regular bases.

While traveling along the Aleutian Archipelago and the shore of Alaska, fighting for territories with the locals, building houses, the Russians were also engaged in hunting of sea-animals: otters and fur seals, as well as traded with the aboriginals.

The Russian co-operatives built several stockaded towns on the continental coast of America, which soon became the center of trade as well as propagation of the European culture among the Indians, including converting to orthodoxy. A newly established company of Russian tradesmen willingly hired the Eskimo and Aleut men to serve as trappers.

In a period of three or four years Shelikhov created a huge fortune through the sea animal hunting business, and established the basis for development of the Russian way of life in America. He had grandiose plans to settle down in America, where he intended to found Slavorossia – the center of all Russian estates with schools for Russian and local children, theaters, shipyards to build Russian fleet, and raw material processing factories.

He dreamed of arranging trade with Japan, China, Korea, India and the Philippines.

To embody his plans, Shelikhov went to St.Petersburg to the Imperial court. Catherine II listened to him but rejected his request to establish a common company instead of many small ones. But she granted him the right for exclusive trade in the North America and the Aleutian Islands. The failure in negotiations did not stop Shelikhov. He returned to Alaska and actively continued to realize his plans.

Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov became an outstanding person but suddenly died at the age of 48. After the death, his wife Natalia Alexeevna continued the business he started.

In 1799 Nikolay Petrovich Rezanov, Russian statesman, helped her to get permission from Paul I for the establishment of Russian-American Company (RAC). The whole glorious history of Russian America is closely associated with this Company.