How a US Naval Officer Opened the Closed Nation of Japan

Immediately after the Revolution, America makes its first trade agreement in Asia with China. Attempting to do the same with the closed country of Japan looks to be impossible. A timely opportunity and the right naval officer enables America to do what no other western power could.Recommended reading: Narrative of the Expedition to the China Seas and Japan by Commodore Matthew PerryCited sources:Opening Japan - https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/opening-to-japan#:~:text=The%20Japanese%20grudgingly%20agreed%20to,American%20ships%3A%20Shimoda%20and%20Hakodate.Opening Japan - https://www.jstor.org/stable/30209385Sakoku - http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/japan/tokugawa_edicts_foreigners.pdfSakoku - https://users.wfu.edu/watts/w03_Japancl.html Christianity in Japan - https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/christianitys-bloody-history-japan Christianity in Japan - https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00597/a-timeline-of-christianity-in-japan.html Trade with China - https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn/history-of-the-u-s-and-china/Perry bio - https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/research-guides/z-files/zb-files/zb-files-p/perry-matthew-c.htmlPerry bio - https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmusn/education/educational-resources/to-the-ends-of-the-earth/commodore-perry-and-japan/biography--matthew-calbraith-perry.htmlPerry bio - https://library.brown.edu/cds/perry/people_Perry.htmlHideyoshi - https://www.worldhistory.org/Toyotomi_Hideyoshi/Warring States - https://www.worldhistory.org/Sengoku_Period/David Conner - https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/us-people/c/conner-david.htmlMail ships - https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1939/september/navy-and-first-u-s-ocean-mail-shipsJohn Aulick - https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/aulick-john-h-ca-1791-1873/Webster quote and other islands - https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1952/march/commodore-perry-and-bonin-islandsTreaty of Kanagawa - https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/treaty-of-kanagawa#:~:text=On%20March%2031%2C%201854%2C%20the,forbidding%20commerce%20with%20foreign%20nations