American Trading Company of Borneo

The American Trading Company of Borneo was a chartered company formed by Joseph William Torrey, Thomas Bradley Harris and several Chinese investors shortly after the acquisition over a parcel of land in northern Borneo from the Sultanate of Brunei.^[1] The first American settlement in the area soon was named "Ellena",^[2] although it was abandoned later due to financial difficulties, diseases and riots among the workers.^[3]

History

In 1850, the United States and Brunei signed a commercial treaty, which was activated in 1865. Out of this agreement, C.L. Moses, the US First Consul to the sultanate, secured a lease of a large territorial concession in North Borneo.^[4] The grant was made in an effort by the Sultan –who still had to address internal power struggle–^[5] to solve the problems of rebellion and piracy in North Borneo.^[6] Moses concessions were immediately sold to Torrey, a Hong Kong merchant. Together with his associates, Torrey founded the American Trading Company in their attempt to develop plantation agriculture at Kimanis in 1865.^[4] This group then sold the lease to Gustav Overbeck in Hong Kong.^[6]

References

^ K. G. Tregonning (November 1954). "American Activity in North Borneo, 1865-1881". Pacific Historical Review. 23 (4): 357–372. doi:10.2307/3634654. JSTOR 3634654.
^ Richard Ker (August 26, 2012). "Ellena – America's Lost Colony in Kimanis of North Borneo". North Borneo Historical Society. Archived from the original on May 21, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
^ James W. Gould (1969). The United States and Malaysia. Harvard University Press. pp. 63–. ISBN 978-0-674-92615-8.
^ ^a ^b Singh, D. S. Ranjit (2019). The Indonesia-Malaysia Dispute Concerning Sovereignty over Sipadan and Ligitan Islands: Historical Antecedents and the International Court of Justice Judgment. Singapore: ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. p. 32. ISBN 978-981-4843-64-5.
^ Fitzgerald, Robert (2015). The Rise of the Global Company: Multinationals and the Making of the Modern World. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-521-84974-6.
^ ^a ^b Ciravegna, Luciano; Fitzgerald, Robert; Kundu, Sumit (August 29, 2013). Operating in Emerging Markets: A Guide to Management and Strategy in the New International Economy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: FT Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-13-298338-9.

External links

Media related to Colony Ellena at Wikimedia Commons

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[1] K. G. Tregonning (November 1954). "American Activity in North Borneo, 1865-1881". Pacific Historical Review. 23 (4): 357–372. doi:10.2307/3634654. JSTOR 3634654.

[2] Richard Ker (August 26, 2012). "Ellena – America's Lost Colony in Kimanis of North Borneo". North Borneo Historical Society. Archived from the original on May 21, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017.

[3] James W. Gould (1969). The United States and Malaysia. Harvard University Press. pp. 63–. ISBN 978-0-674-92615-8.

[:0-4] Singh, D. S. Ranjit (2019). The Indonesia-Malaysia Dispute Concerning Sovereignty over Sipadan and Ligitan Islands: Historical Antecedents and the International Court of Justice Judgment. Singapore: ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. p. 32. ISBN 978-981-4843-64-5.

[5] Fitzgerald, Robert (2015). The Rise of the Global Company: Multinationals and the Making of the Modern World. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-521-84974-6.

[:1-6] Ciravegna, Luciano; Fitzgerald, Robert; Kundu, Sumit (August 29, 2013). Operating in Emerging Markets: A Guide to Management and Strategy in the New International Economy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: FT Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-13-298338-9.

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