Secret committee and the question of the little Russian Cossacks

Filippova N.

The article is devoted to the problem of finding ways to solve the peasant question in the government circles of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the XIX century. By the example of consideration of the issue of finding Cossack rights by the peasants of Little Russia (Malorossiya) at the meeting of the Secret committee (Neglassnyi komitet) on October 26, 1803, the consistent but cautious desire of its participants to find optimal approaches to solving the peasant question, including through a expansion rights estates, is shown.

Keywords:the history of Russia in the first half of the XIX century, domestic politics of Alexander I, Secret Committee, peasant question, Little Russia, Cossacks.