By: Sabrina Peña-Sy, a HISTOYOUTH Writer
Concurrent with seclusionist Japan’s social and economic deterioration was the rapidly expanding threat of European colonialism. The sudden, overt, and humiliating entrance of Western powers collided with the already restive citizenry, sparking a political revolution in 1868, which begs the question: how exactly did Western colonialism anger, humiliate, and ultimately inspire Japan’s own imperialist conquest?
Undercurrent of European Colonial Expansion
Towards the latter half of the 17th century, fear of European intrusion grew; Russia attempted to open trade negotiations in the 1790s, as did Britain beginning in 1808 (Goss; Pyle). However, such incidents were small and infrequent enough not to stir concern until a British victory against China in the Opium War (1839-42) (Pyle). China was subsequently forced into unequal treaties by Britain, followed soon after by France, the United States, and Russia; said unequal treaties were both economically detrimental to China as well as humiliating (Asia, “Opium”). To Japan, this as “a distinct threat” (Pyle).
A subsequent warning from Dutch trade representatives in 1844 further foreboded Western interference. They recommended the bakufu to end Japanese seclusionism before Western superpowers took to opening the nation with force (Pyle).
The Commodore Arrives
The United States, after acquiring California from Mexico in 1848 and opening its borders to the pacific, looked for an upper hand against other Western powers in Asia (National; Pyle). Thus in 1851, President Millard Fillmore placed Naval Officer John H. Aulick in command of an expedition to negotiate trade treaties with Japan. However, after a quarrel with the ship captain, Aulick was replaced by Commodore Matthew C. Perry who was ultimately successful in his mission (Melia).
On July 8th, 1853, Perry arrived at Uraga in his fleet of “black ships” and demanded for Japan to open its doors for trade lest the US reponds with greater force (Asia, “Perry”; Beasley, “Rise”). This later became known as gunboat diplomacy, a form of foreign policy that involves a display of military might, implying or even utilizing violence.
The response in Japan was divided; some, pushed to “expel the barbarians” while others advocated for opening the country (Pyle). The latter persisted as, even though Japan remained economically isolated, information about Western advancements had circulated via Dutch traders, and propomnents or trade believed the west to be too technologically advanced for Japan to match (Pyle).
The Commodore Returns and a Treaty is Signed
In February of 1854, Perry kept true to his promise and arrived, though this time with eight ships instead of four (Beasley, “Rise”). A treaty was ultimately signed — the Treaty of Kanagawa — and Japan opened two ports, Shimoda and Hakodate, to American trade (Pyle; Beasley, “Rise”). Subsequently, France, Britain, Holland and Russia rushed through the crack in the door and signed similar treaties that provided the Western powers with adtantageous trading rights at Japan’s expense. Japan was in a “semi-colonial status” and the treaties soon became “a symbol of…national impotence” (Pyle).
In such a political writ, the reaction of Japan’s samurai class paved the way for the Meiji Restoration, the next stepping stone in the road to colonialism. Japan now had an enemy and a model.
Work Cited
Asia For Educators. “Commodore Perry and Japan (1853-1854).” Columbia University Weatherhead East Asian Institute, http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/japan_1750_perry.htm. Accessed 6 Nov. 2023.
---. “The Opium War and Foreign Encroachment.” Columbia University Weatherhead East Asian Institute, http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1750_opium.htm#war. Accessed 6 Nov. 2023.
Beasley, W. G. The Rise of Modern Japan, 3rd Edition: Political, Economic, and Social Change since 1850. Palgrave Macmillan, 2000.
Melia, Tamara Moser and The Dictionary of Virginia Biography. “John H. Aulick (1790–1873).” Encyclopedia Virginia, 7 Dec. 2020, https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/aulick-john-h-ca-1791-1873/. Accessed 6 Nov. 2023.
National Archives. “Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848).” National Archives Milestone Documents, 25 June 2021, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/treaty-of-guadalupe-hidalgo. Accessed 6 Nov. 2023.
Pyle, Kenneth B. The Making of Modern Japan. 1978. D.C. Heath and Company, 1996.
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