Matthew Calbraith Perry
A U.S. Navy serviceman who came to Japan twice toward the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, pressing for the opening of the country, and who concluded the Convention of Peace and Amity between the United States of America and the Empire of Japan
1794–1858
Matthew Calbraith Perry was a serviceman in the United States Navy and a pioneer in the opening of Japan. He was the third son born to a naval family in South Kingstown (or according to another theory, Newport), Rhode Island. Joining the Navy in 1809, he served in the West Indies, the Mediterranean, and Africa before assuming command of the United States Navy’s first steam ship, the USS Fulton, in 1837, when he was promoted to the rank of captain. Later he was appointed commander of the East India Squadron in 1852. In 1853, leading four warships, he arrived at Uraga Harbor, presented official credentials from President Fillmore, and demanded that the Shogunate open the country. He left for a time but came back to Edo Bay again the next year in 1854 with seven warships to request the conclusion of a treaty and was able to successfully conclude the Convention of Kanagawa (the Convention of Peace and Amity between the United States of America and the Empire of Japan). As a result, the ports of Hakodate and Shimoda were opened, and trade between Japan and the United States began. This represented the demise of the policy of national seclusion, and Japan became open for commerce. After his return to the United States, Perry was commissioned by the government to compile his Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan (1856–1860). Perry, an embodiment of the era’s concept of Manifest Destiny, was convinced that bringing Western Christian civilization to Japan was a historical calling of the United States, and he had conducted meticulous research on Japan before his arrival in the country.
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ペリーの来航時に日本人が記した写本や、ペリーの帰国後アメリカで刊行された資料など、京都外国語大学図書館が所蔵している資料を展示する。
中高生のための幕末・明治の日本の歴史事典
上記タイトルの展覧会(2008年)の紹介。
Ⅲ 黒船と開国
References
- サンプルページ「ペリー」の項。
- サンプルページ「ペリー」の項。
- サンプルページ「ペリー」の項。
- 対外関係史総合年表編集委員会 編,吉川弘文館
- 加藤友康, 瀬野精一郎, 鳥海靖, 丸山雍成 編,吉川弘文館
- 歴史学研究会 編,岩波書店
