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This was not the first time the United States had aspired to establish contact with Japan, but every earlier effort had failed. All these factors awakened interest in Japan, but the country had remained virtually isolated from the West for over two centuries. In addition, the American whaling industry had been advancing into Pacific waters to search for sperm whales, which had largely been depleted in the Atlantic. Japan’s strategic location between California and China made it especially appealing because it could serve as a coaling station for merchant steamships on route to and from China. But since the acquisition of the Oregon territory in 1846 and the taking of California from Mexico in 1848, the settlement of the western coastline of the United States had increased interest in the Pacific trade. Before 1852, he had never set foot in Asia or sailed in Pacific waters. Perry arrived four months after Fillmore’s time as president had ended.Ĭommodore Perry was fiercely determined to succeed in his mission: to open up Japan to American trade and influence. (a) President Millard Fillmore, shown in a photo from about 1850, dispatched (b) Commodore Perry to Japan. The Commodore arrived with orders from President Millard Fillmore to deliver a letter to the Emperor, Tokugawa Ieyoshi, seeking to commence friendly relations between the two countries. Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, known to his men as “Old Bruin,” commanded the fleet that was to break the longstanding isolation of Japan from the outside world. In the summer of 1853, the Japanese people watched apprehensively as large black ships from the United States entered the port of Uraga in Japan. Use this Narrative to help students understand the United States’ motivations for opening trade with Japan.
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