Robbie said 3/8

Today in class we learned about Japan in the period 1750-1914.
Beforehand, however, we talked about some events that occurred prior to
this period. In 1540, the Portuguese brought to Japan both guns and
Christianity, and the Japanese government didn't approve of the foreign
interference. In 1600, the Tokugawa Shogunate came into power, unifying
Japan and isolating the country except for some contact with the Dutch
and Chinese. In 1640, the Pax Tokugawa was established, which brought
peace, prosperity, and stability, ultimately producing a Golden Age in
Japan. However, in 1853, Matthew Perry, an American Commodore, showed
up with three ships and a letter from President Fillmore to the
emperor of Japan. Perry brought with him a translator, artist, and
photographer, and had done a great deal of research before setting out
to Japan.

The letter, written by President Fillmore, encompassed his feelings
about how the Japanese-American relationship should be, and what the
relationship would entail in the future. He starts off by addressing
the emperor as, "Great and Good Friend," which right away shows us that
he's approaching the emperor of Japan with a desire to start off on
good terms. A little ways into the letter, Fillmore mentions friendship
once again, and goes on to talk about his wish for the two nations to
engage in commerce. He says that the U.S. will not disturb the Japanese
religiously or politically, and that because the U.S. wants Japanese
products and Japan could use those from the U.S., both countries would
benefit from the trade. He also mentions that he's aware of the strict
laws regarding foreign contact, but that change is good and definitely
possible. He tells the emperor that Japan can experiment with the
change and, if unhappy, can change back to the way it used to be with
its strict policies. Further into the letter, Fillmore says that the
Japanese should leave the U.S. sailors, who had crashed on the shores
of Japan, alone because the U.S. will provide them with the help they
need. (The reason Fillmore talks about this is because some sailors had
previously been taken hostage and abused when the U.S. ships had been
shipwrecked.) After this, the U.S. President says that he wants
refueling stations, one or two convenient ports where the U.S. can stop
by to pick up the supplies they need and had just run out of. Finally,
in summing up the letter, President Fillmore says that his four major
aspirations are friendship, commerce, a supply of coal and provisions,
and protection for his shipwrecked people. He also says that he hopes
the imperial government will accept the presents brought over by
Matthew Perry. (Perry goes over with miniature models of guns, ships,
railroads, etc.)

After talking about the letter, we learned that the U.S. gave Japan
one year to decide whether or not they would accept the terms of this
relationship. In 1854, Matthew Perry went back to Japan, this time with
a fleet of ships known as the "Black Fleet," and blocked the harbor so
no ships could come in or go out. With Perry demanding an answer, the
Japanese emperor chose that the Japanese would accept the terms
discussed in Fillmore's letter. Upon this decision, the treaty between
the U.S. and Japan, Kanagawa, was created on March 31st, 1854.

This is everything we talked about in class today, minus one other
thing. We also compared the letter written by Fillmore to that written
by the emperor of China to King George III. We said that the two
letters are opposite one another because the Chinese emperor told King
George III with stern feelings that his country wants nothing from
Great Britain, while President Fillmore tells the Japanese emperor, in
a very amiable tone, that he wants the two countries to be friendly,
and that both nations could benefit economically from one another.

I hope this helps everyone out! The next person to blog will be Nick.