During the first half of the century the governments of Great Britain, Russia, and France had made efforts, through the visits of their naval vessels, to communicate with the central government of Japan, and to secure some relaxation of its strict policy of seclusion, but all these attempts had proved futile. As the ultimate success was due to the efforts of the United States, it will be well to refer to them in some detail.
The first American vessel to visit Japan was the Eliza, Captain Stewart, in 1797. Holland being at that time at war with Great Britain, the Eliza was chartered by the Dutch East India Company to make the annual visit allowed by the Japanese regulations to the factory on the island of Deshima, in the harbor of Nagasaki. Her arrival was a matter of great perplexity to the Japanese—a vessel in the employ of the Dutch, carrying an unknown flag, with a crew speaking English, but belonging to a new country which had another king or ruler than the English. After lengthy explanations and considerable delay she was admitted to the harbor and her cargo discharged. During the continuance of the war other American vessels visited Nagasaki under similar charters. A few years later Captain Stewart appeared at Nagasaki, with a cargo on his own account, and sought to open trade, but his request was refused and he was sent away.[1]
No further serious attempt was made by Americans
- ↑ 11 Chinese Repository, 161; Nitobe's Intercourse between the United States and Japan, 31.
York, 1851, p. 255; 24 Congressional Globe, part 2, p. 1973, 32d Cong. 1st Sess.
