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Perry Expedition
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Perry Expedition
The Perry Expedition (Japanese: 黒船来航, kurofune raikō, "Arrival of the Black Ships") was a diplomatic and military expedition in two separate voyages (1852–1853 and 1854–1855) to the Tokugawa shogunate (徳川幕府) by warships of the United States Navy. The goals of this expedition included exploration, surveying, and the establishment of diplomatic relations and negotiation of trade agreements with the various nations in the region. Opening contact with the government of Japan was considered a top priority of the expedition, and was one of the key reasons for its inception.
The expedition was commanded by Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, under orders from President Millard Fillmore. Perry's primary goal was to force an end to Japan's 220-year-old policy of isolation and to open Japanese ports to American trade, through the use of gunboat diplomacy if necessary. The Perry Expedition led directly to the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and the western Great Powers, and eventually to the collapse of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and the restoration of the Emperor. Following the expedition, Japan's burgeoning trade routes with the world led to the cultural trend of Japonisme, in which aspects of Japanese culture influenced art in Europe and America.
Growing commerce between America and China, the presence of American whalers in waters off Japan, and the increasing monopolization of potential coaling stations by European colonial powers in Asia were all contributing factors in the decision by President Fillmore to dispatch an expedition to Japan. The Americans were also driven by concepts of manifest destiny and the desire to impose the benefits of Western civilization and the Christian religion on what they perceived as backward Asian nations.
By the early 19th century, the Japanese policy of isolation was increasingly under challenge. In 1844, Dutch King William II sent a letter urging Japan to end the isolation policy on its own before change would be forced from the outside. Between 1790 and 1853, at least twenty-seven U.S. ships, including three warships, visited Japan, only to be turned away.
There were increased sightings and incursions of foreign ships into Japanese waters, and this led to considerable internal debate in Japan on how best to meet this potential threat to Japan's economic and political sovereignty. In May 1851, American Secretary of State Daniel Webster authorized Commodore John H. Aulick, commander of the American East India Squadron, to attempt to return seventeen shipwrecked Japanese sailors residing in San Francisco, which might provide the opportunity for opening commercial relations with Japan. On May 10, 1851, Webster drafted a letter addressed to the "Japanese Emperor" with assurances that the expedition had no religious purpose but was only to request "friendship and commerce" and supplies of coal needed by American ships en route to China.
The letter also boasted of American expansion across the North American continent and its technical prowess, and was signed by President Fillmore. However, Aulick became involved in a diplomatic row with a Brazilian diplomat and quarrels with the captain of his flagship, and was relieved of his command before he could undertake the Japan expedition. His replacement, Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, was a senior-ranking officer in the United States Navy, and had extensive diplomatic experience.
Perry was well aware of the difficulties involved in attempting to establish relations with Japan and initially protested that he would prefer to command the Mediterranean Squadron of the U.S. Navy instead of being assigned to yet another attempt to open Japan, which he considered unlikely to win. Relevant precedents included:
In advance of his voyage, Perry read widely amongst available books about Japan. His research also included consultation with the Japanologist Philipp Franz von Siebold. Siebold spent eight years working, teaching, and studying at the isolated Dutch island-trading post of Dejima in Nagasaki harbour before returning to Leiden in the Netherlands. Perry also demanded greater latitude in his orders from Webster, a demand the Secretary of State granted just before his death in October 1852. Perry thus sailed for Japan with "full and discretionary powers", including possible use of force if the Japanese tried to treat him as they had the unfortunate Commodore Biddle. Perry also refused to allow any professional diplomats to accompany the expedition. He asked the German painter Wilhelm Heine and pioneer daguerreotype photographer Eliphalet M. Brown Jr. to join the expedition as official artists. Agricultural specialist Dr. James Morrow was assigned by the US State Department. Several Japanese castaways were also taken on as unofficial interpreters.
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Perry Expedition
The Perry Expedition (Japanese: 黒船来航, kurofune raikō, "Arrival of the Black Ships") was a diplomatic and military expedition in two separate voyages (1852–1853 and 1854–1855) to the Tokugawa shogunate (徳川幕府) by warships of the United States Navy. The goals of this expedition included exploration, surveying, and the establishment of diplomatic relations and negotiation of trade agreements with the various nations in the region. Opening contact with the government of Japan was considered a top priority of the expedition, and was one of the key reasons for its inception.
The expedition was commanded by Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, under orders from President Millard Fillmore. Perry's primary goal was to force an end to Japan's 220-year-old policy of isolation and to open Japanese ports to American trade, through the use of gunboat diplomacy if necessary. The Perry Expedition led directly to the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and the western Great Powers, and eventually to the collapse of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and the restoration of the Emperor. Following the expedition, Japan's burgeoning trade routes with the world led to the cultural trend of Japonisme, in which aspects of Japanese culture influenced art in Europe and America.
Growing commerce between America and China, the presence of American whalers in waters off Japan, and the increasing monopolization of potential coaling stations by European colonial powers in Asia were all contributing factors in the decision by President Fillmore to dispatch an expedition to Japan. The Americans were also driven by concepts of manifest destiny and the desire to impose the benefits of Western civilization and the Christian religion on what they perceived as backward Asian nations.
By the early 19th century, the Japanese policy of isolation was increasingly under challenge. In 1844, Dutch King William II sent a letter urging Japan to end the isolation policy on its own before change would be forced from the outside. Between 1790 and 1853, at least twenty-seven U.S. ships, including three warships, visited Japan, only to be turned away.
There were increased sightings and incursions of foreign ships into Japanese waters, and this led to considerable internal debate in Japan on how best to meet this potential threat to Japan's economic and political sovereignty. In May 1851, American Secretary of State Daniel Webster authorized Commodore John H. Aulick, commander of the American East India Squadron, to attempt to return seventeen shipwrecked Japanese sailors residing in San Francisco, which might provide the opportunity for opening commercial relations with Japan. On May 10, 1851, Webster drafted a letter addressed to the "Japanese Emperor" with assurances that the expedition had no religious purpose but was only to request "friendship and commerce" and supplies of coal needed by American ships en route to China.
The letter also boasted of American expansion across the North American continent and its technical prowess, and was signed by President Fillmore. However, Aulick became involved in a diplomatic row with a Brazilian diplomat and quarrels with the captain of his flagship, and was relieved of his command before he could undertake the Japan expedition. His replacement, Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, was a senior-ranking officer in the United States Navy, and had extensive diplomatic experience.
Perry was well aware of the difficulties involved in attempting to establish relations with Japan and initially protested that he would prefer to command the Mediterranean Squadron of the U.S. Navy instead of being assigned to yet another attempt to open Japan, which he considered unlikely to win. Relevant precedents included:
In advance of his voyage, Perry read widely amongst available books about Japan. His research also included consultation with the Japanologist Philipp Franz von Siebold. Siebold spent eight years working, teaching, and studying at the isolated Dutch island-trading post of Dejima in Nagasaki harbour before returning to Leiden in the Netherlands. Perry also demanded greater latitude in his orders from Webster, a demand the Secretary of State granted just before his death in October 1852. Perry thus sailed for Japan with "full and discretionary powers", including possible use of force if the Japanese tried to treat him as they had the unfortunate Commodore Biddle. Perry also refused to allow any professional diplomats to accompany the expedition. He asked the German painter Wilhelm Heine and pioneer daguerreotype photographer Eliphalet M. Brown Jr. to join the expedition as official artists. Agricultural specialist Dr. James Morrow was assigned by the US State Department. Several Japanese castaways were also taken on as unofficial interpreters.
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