Ben Franklin's world is a production of the

O'Mohandro Institute. Hello and welcome to episode 233 of Ben Franklin's world.

The podcast dedicated to helping you,

learn more about how the people and events of our early American past have shaped the present day world we live in.

And I'm your host, Liz Kovart.

When we think about colonial American history, we tend to think about the colonies established by the English, the Dutch, the French, and even the Spanish.

Rarely do we think about the colonies established by the Russians.

And yet Russia had colonies in North America.

In fact, the story of Russian America

is a very interesting one, because unlike the other European

empires, which moved west across the Atlantic

and then clink territories along the east coast of North America and in the Caribbean.

Russia expanded its imperial holdings by moving east, across the Eurasian continent,

and by claiming territories along the west coast of North America.

So what does this story of Russian colonization look like?

And do the practices and ideas of European colonization change when we view it in this Western context?

Gwen Miller, an associate professor of history at the College of the Holy Cross,

joins us to investigate a history of Russia's colonies in North America with details from her book

Kodiak Creole, communities of empire in early Russian America.

Now as we view colonial America within the Russian colonial context, Gwen reveals,

why Russia chose to establish colonies in Alaska in 1784,

the history of the Lutee people of Kodiak Island

...