Perry's small squadron itself was not enough to force the massive changes that then took place in Japan, but the Japanese knew that his ships were just the beginning of Western interest in their islands. Russia, Britain, France, and Holland all followed Perry's example and used their fleets to force Japan to sign treaties that promised regular relations and trade.
They did not just threaten Japan — they combination their navies on several occasions to defeat and disarm the Japanese feudal domains that defied them. The Tokugawa shogunate was founded about years earlier, in , when Tokugawa leyasu his surname is Tokugawa and his allies defeated an opposing coalition of feudal lords to establish dominance over the many contending warlords. Instead, he replaced opposing feudal lords with relatives and allies, who were free to rule within their domains under few restrictions.
He was proven right two centuries later, when change came in the form of Perry's ships. Upon seeing Perry's fleet sailing into their harbor, the Japanese called them the "black ships of evil mien appearance. At the same time, Perry brought along a variety of gifts for the Japanese Emperor, including a working model of a steam locomotive, a telescope, a telegraph, and a variety of wines and liquors from the West, all intended to impress upon the Japanese the superiority of Western culture.
His mission was to complete an agreement with the Japanese Government for the protection of shipwrecked or stranded Americans and to open one or more ports for supplies and refueling. According to the terms of the treaty, Japan would protect stranded seamen and open two ports for refueling and provisioning American ships: Shimoda and Hakodate. Japan also gave the United States the right to appoint consuls to live in these port cities, a privilege not previously granted to foreign nations.
This treaty was not a commercial treaty, and it did not guarantee the right to trade with Japan. Still, in addition to providing for distressed American ships in Japanese waters, it contained a most-favored-nation clause, so that all future concessions Japan granted to other foreign powers would also be granted to the United States.
The first U. Ultimately, Japanese officials learned of how the British used military action to compel the opening to China, and decided that it was better to open its doors willingly than to be forced to do so.
The United States and Japan signed their first true commercial treaty, sometimes called the Harris Treaty, in The European powers soon followed the U. Japan sent its first mission to the West in , when Japanese delegates journeyed to the United States to exchange the ratified Harris Treaty.
The argument continued for 23 days, Perry immovable in his demands, the Japanese retreating only when worn down by the resolute American.
The final treaty, as signed, contained provisions for:. Two harbors Shimoda and Hakodate to be opened for supplies and coal. Shipwrecked sailors to be assisted and returned to American representatives. American citizens to be given freedom of movement within the treaty ports. Trade between the Americans and Japanese to be conducted in the treaty ports.
As soon as the treaty was signed, Perry dispatched Commander H. Adams for Washington with the document. Perry lingered in Japanese waters to inspect the treaty harbors and settle on additional details. His efforts culminated in specific regulations signed with the commissioners in mid-June. These dealt mainly with landing wharfs, American conduct on shore, harbor masters, pilots, and commercial usage. Meanwhile, Japanese suspicion and reserve had been thawing. The Americans landed gifts calculated to interest the Japanese in the advantages of trade.
These included:. The sight of Japanese nobles, riding on the roof of the miniature railroad coach with ceremonial robes flying behind indicated how far the Japanese had departed from tradition. It was also evident to Perry's men that the Japanese as a people had not sponsored the isolation. Once given government approval, they met the Americans with friendship. On June 28, , Perry left Japan, halting for a last minute inspection at Okinawa.
Here he discovered that an American seaman, guilty of assault on a native, had been stoned to death by a mob. Perry demanded that the killers be punished, making it clear that not he, but constituted government on Okinawa must have jurisdiction.
His last act was the signing of a compact opening the port of Naha to American use for all time. At Hong Kong the expedition broke up, ships returning to the States or remaining on station as part of the regular Asiatic Squadron.
Perry, exhausted and ill, traveled by commercial steamer and overland through Europe, arriving in New York in January On April 23, , his original flagship, the Mississippi , docked at Brooklyn Navy Yard and the next day "Old Matt" formally hauled down his pennant. Commander Adams' journey with the treaty to Washington and back to Japan was the sequel. The treaty was presented to the Senate by the President and ratified in time for Adams to leave New York in the early autumn of He arrived at Shimoda, January 26, The elapsed time between the signing of the treaty in Japan and its return from the United States was under 10 months.
A devastating earthquake had rocked Honshu during Adams' absence and one of its victims was a Russian man-of-war. The Americans relieved the shipwrecked Russians by supplying all the Powhatan provisions that could be spared.
Meanwhile, the Russians negotiated a treaty almost identical with that of Perry. Adams noted that the Japanese regarded the Russians with none of the good will evidenced toward Americans. The advantages of Perry's diplomacy were further demonstrated when a French ship was refused entry to Shimoda because Japan had no treaty with France.
The impact of Perry's success was to be world-wide. In the following century Japan, by adopting modern techniques, was to become one of the earth's great industrial, mercantile and military powers, only to lose that position in the holocaust of World War II. Today Japan is again on the way out of darkness, and all Americans have a deep-seated interest in her political and economic future.
This Centennial offers an opportunity to point out the extent of that interest. Naval History and Heritage Command. Print Friendly. The Sextant. Social Media. Toggle left navigation Nav. Toggle navigation Menu.
Toggle navigation. Navy Installations Historic Former U. Navy Women in the U. Lord Abe resigned his post in and passed away two years later at the age of Perry died soon after, in These two leaders changed the course of history for Japan and the United States.
This turn of events ushered in political change, military buildup, and social transformation for the Japanese people that set the nation on a course toward becoming a military and industrial world power.
It also opened the door to eastern migration. Growing American industries like the railroads also helped to spur Japanese immigration to Hawaii and California in the late nineteenth century, supplying a pool of cheap immigrant labor. Given that his visit had set in motion an imperial rivalry in the Pacific that culminated in World War II, it is not surprising that it was torn down during the war.
President Millard Fillmore and U. Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry to the Emperor of Japan Feifer, George. New York: Smithsonian Books, Herring, George C. From Colony to Superpower: U. Foreign Relations since Morison, Samuel Eliot. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, Schroeder, John H.
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