Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United States–Japan)
The Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and the United States (日米修好通商条約, Nichibei Shūkō Tsūshō Jōyaku), also called the Harris Treaty was a treaty signed between the United States and Tokugawa Shogunate, which opened the ports of Kanagawa and four other Japanese cities to trade and granted extraterritoriality to foreigners, among a number of trading stipulations. It was signed on the deck of the USS Powhatan in Edo (now Tokyo) Bay on July 29, 1858.
This article is about the treaty of 1858 with Japan. For 1856 treaty with Siam, see Townsend Harris § Harris Treaty of 1856 with Siam.
The treaty followed the 1854 Convention of Kanagawa, which granted coaling rights for American merchant ships and allowed for a US Consul in Shimoda. Although Commodore Matthew Perry secured fuel for US ships and protection for US sailors, he left the important matter of trading rights to Townsend Harris, another US envoy who negotiated with the Tokugawa shogunate; the treaty is therefore often referred to as the "Harris Treaty". It took two years to break down Japanese resistance, but with the realization that demands for similar privileges would soon follow from other Western powers, the Tokugawa government eventually capitulated.
Among the most important points were:[2]
The agreement served as a model for similar treaties signed by Japan with other foreign countries in the ensuing weeks. These Unequal Treaties curtailed Japanese sovereignty for the first time in its history; more importantly, it revealed Japan's growing weakness. The recovery of national status and strength became an overarching priority for the Japanese, with the treaty's domestic consequences being the end of Bakufu (Shōgun) control and the establishment of a new imperial government.[4]
American interests in Japan[edit]
Perry's expedition to Japan was theoretically linked to the notion of manifest destiny, in which American settlers had a "God-given" right to spread across North America.[5] The role of Japan in particular was that of a base of commerce between China and the United States. According to US Secretary of State Daniel Webster, God had placed coal for steam ships and other trading vessels "in the depths of the Japanese islands for the benefit of the human family."[6] The idea of "Manifest Destiny" as an imperialistic measure outside of North America was not introduced as a significant idea until the Republican bid for office in 1892, thereby suggesting, in practicality, a mere economic interest in Japan, as it held coal reserves in key locations for Pacific trade.[7]