Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1825)
| Convention Concerning the Limits of Their Respective Possessions on the Northwest Coast of America and the Navigation of the Pacific Ocean | |
|---|---|
| Signed | 28 February 1825 |
| Location | Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| Negotiators | Karl Nesselrode Pyotr Ivanovich Poletika Stratford Canning |
| Parties | |
| Language | Russian, French |
The Treaty of Saint Petersburg of 1825 or the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1825, officially the Convention Concerning the Limits of Their Respective Possessions on the Northwest Coast of America and the Navigation of the Pacific Ocean,Alaska Boundary Dispute between the United States on the one hand, and Canada (with Britain acting, in foreign affairs, on behalf of Canada) on the other.
Other terms of the treaty, including the right to navigation by British vessels to both commerce in the region affected, and also access to rivers crossing the designated coastal boundary, were exercised by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1834 but were met with opposition by then
RAC-HBC Agreement, in which the RAC agreed to lease the mainland coastal portion of the region south of Cape Spencer at the entrance to Cross Sound and the HBC promised to supply Russian America settlements with foodstuffs and manufactured goods. In addition the HBC waived its demand for payments for damages incurred during the Dryad affair.[5] The same clauses enabled British access to the Stikine River goldfields in 1862 but were not assumed by the Americans upon their purchase of Russian interests in 1867, resulting in further conflict over British rights of access to the inland regions. The treaty's terms pertaining to the Arctic Ocean (referred to as the "Frozen Ocean" in the treaty) also played a part in the terms of the Bering Sea Arbitration
and other decisions in Alaskan/US courts over marine and offshore interests.
See also
- Stikine Territory
- North-Western Territory
- Atlin District
- Maritime fur trade
References
- ^ International Environmental Law Reports, Vol. 1. ed. A. R. Robb. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 1999, p. 560.
- ^ A Merged History of Canada and The United States, Bill Jones, ExploreNorth.com website, see section "1825: Anglo-Russian Convention"
- ^ Chronology of Alaska and Yukon history
- ^ J. W. Shelest, The Dryad Affair: Corporate Warfare and Anglo-Russian Rivalry for the Alaskan Lisière, 1989.
- ^ The Hudson's Bay Company, page 154
Further reading
- Hodgins, Thomas. The Alaska-Canada Boundary Dispute: Under the Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1825; the Russian-American Alaska Treaty of 1867; and the Anglo-American Conventions of 1892, 1894 and 1897. An Historical and Legal Review (W. Tyrrell and Company, 1903). online
External links
- Convention Between Great Britain and Russia, 1825 (Treaty of St. Petersburg)