Matthew C. Perry

Matthew C. Perry was a U.S. Navy commodore whose 1853–1854 expeditions used naval pressure to secure Japanese access for American ships and trade.

Perry Expedition to Japan: A U.S. naval mission to Japan in 1853–1854 that sought access for American ships and trade. Perry commanded this expedition, whose arrival in Edo Bay pressed Japan to negotiate.
Gunboat diplomacy: The use or threat of naval force to achieve diplomatic or political aims. Perry’s squadron made the possibility of force central to negotiations.
Millard Fillmore: The 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853. Fillmore’s administration authorized the mission and sent Perry’s letter to Japan.
James Glynn: A U.S. Navy captain who visited Japan in 1849 to seek the release of American sailors. His earlier mission helped inform American planning for Perry’s expedition.
Meiji Restoration: The 1868 political transformation that ended Tokugawa rule and restored imperial government in Japan. The unequal treaties that followed Perry’s arrival intensified domestic opposition to the shogunate.
Convention of Kanagawa: A 1854 agreement between the United States and Japan that opened two Japanese ports to American ships. Perry negotiated this agreement after returning to Japan with a larger squadron.
Edo Bay: A bay on Japan’s Pacific coast, now called Tokyo Bay, beside the Tokugawa shogunate’s capital. Perry anchored near the capital to make his demands impossible to ignore.
Treaty of Wanghia: A 1844 treaty that established formal diplomatic and commercial relations between the United States and Qing China. The treaty’s access to Chinese ports formed part of the commercial context for Perry’s mission.
Toshimichi Hayashi: A Tokugawa official who negotiated with Perry’s representatives at Yokohama in 1854. He conducted the Japanese negotiations that produced the Convention of Kanagawa.
Unequal treaties: Nineteenth-century agreements that granted foreign powers privileges in Asian states with limited reciprocal rights. Perry’s agreement opened the way for treaties that imposed broader constraints on Japan.

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