Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

PERRY, MATTHEW CALBRAITH (1794–1858)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 185 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

PERRY, See also:MATTHEW CALBRAITH (1794–1858) , See also:American See also:naval officer, was See also:born in See also:South See also:Kingston, Rhode See also:Island, on the loth of See also:April 1794. He became a See also:midshipman in 1809, and served successively in the See also:schooner " Revenge " (then commanded by his See also:brother, See also:Oliver H. Perry) and the See also:frigate " See also:President." In 1813 he became a See also:lieutenant, and during the See also:War of 1812 served in the frigate " See also:United States " (which, when abandoned by Perry, was blockaded in the See also:harbour of New See also:London, See also:Connecticut), the " President " and the " Chippewa." Soon after the war Perry was assigned to the See also:Brooklyn (New See also:York) See also:navy yard, where he served till 1819. He became a See also:commander in 1826, and during 1826–183o was in the recruiting service at See also:Boston, where he took a leading See also:part in organizing the first naval apprentice See also:system of the United States navy. He was promoted in 1837 to the See also:rank of See also:captain (then the highest actual rank in the United States navy), and in 1838–184o commanded the " See also:Fulton II.," the first American See also:steam war See also:vessel. He also planned the " See also:Missouri " and the " See also:Mississippi," the first steam frigates of the United States navy, and was in command of the Brooklyn navy yard from See also:June 1841 until See also:March 1843, when he assumed command of a See also:squadron sent to the See also:African See also:coast by the United States, under the See also:Webster-See also:Ashburton treaty, to aid in suppressing the slave See also:trade. This command of a squadron entitled him to the honorary rank of See also:commodore. On the 23rd of See also:October 1846, during the Mexican War, Perry, in command of the steam vessels " Vixen " and " See also:McLane," and four schooners, attacked and captured Frontera, at the mouth of the Tobasco See also:river, then pushed on up the river and (on the 24th) captured the See also:town of See also:Tobacco, thereby cutting off See also:Mexico. from See also:Yucatan. He relieved Commodore See also:David Conner at See also:Vera Cruz on the 21st of March 1847, and after a two days' See also:bombardment by a See also:battery landed from the See also:ships the See also:city See also:wall was breached sufficiently to admit the entrance of troops. Commodore Perry's distinctive achievement, however, was his negotiation in 1854 of the treaty between the United States and See also:Japan, which opened Japan to the influences of western See also:civilization. Perry sailed from See also:Norfolk, See also:Virginia, on the 24th of See also:November 1852, in the " Mississippi." He reached Hong-See also:Kong on the 7th of April and on the 8th of See also:July dropped See also:anchor off the city of Uraga, on the western See also:shore of the See also:Bay of Yedo with the " Susquehanna," his See also:flagship, the " Mississippi," and the sloops-of-war " See also:Saratoga " and " See also:Plymouth." On the 14th of July, accompanied by his See also:officers and escorted by a See also:body of armed See also:marines and sailors (in all about Soo men), he went ashore and presented to commissioners especially appointed by the See also:shogun to receive them, President See also:Fillmore's letters to the See also:emperor, and his own See also:credentials. A few days later the American See also:fleet sailed for Hong-Kong with the understanding that Perry would return in the following See also:spring to receive the emperor's reply.

On the I1th of See also:

February, accordingly, he reappeared in the Bay of Yedo with his fleet—this See also:time composed of the " Susquehanna," " Powhatan " and " Mississippi," and the sailing vessels " Vandalia,"" See also:Lexington "and "See also:Southampton," and despite the protests of the See also:Japanese selected an anchorage about 12 m. farther up the bay, nearly opposite the See also:present site of See also:Yokohama, and within about to m. of Yedo (See also:Tokyo). Here, on the 31st of March 1854, was concluded the first treaty (ratified at Simoda, on the 21st of February 1855, and proclaimed on the 22nd of June following) between the United States and Japan. The more important articles of this treaty provided that the See also:port of Simoda, in the principality of Idzu, and the port of See also:Hakodate, in the principality of Matsmai, were constituted as ports for the reception of American ships, where they could buy such supplies as they needed; that Japanese vessels should assist American vessels driven ashore on the coasts of Japan, and that the crews of such vessels should be properly cared for at one of the two treaty ports; that shipwrecked and other American citizens in Japan should be as See also:free as in other countries, within certain prescribed limits; that ships of the United States should be permitted to trade at the two treaty ports under temporary regulations prescribed by the Japanese, that American ships should use only the ports named, except under stress of See also:weather, and that privileges granted to other nations thereafter must also be extended to the United States. Commodore Perry died in New York City on the 4th of March 1858. A See also:complete and readable See also:account of this expedition, and its results, scientific as well as See also:political, compiled from the See also:journals and reports of Commodore Perry and his officers, was published by the United States See also:government under the See also:title, Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the See also:China Seas and Japan (3 vols., See also:Washington, 1856). The first See also:volume of this See also:work, containing Commodore Perry's narrative, was also published separately. A brief See also:biography of Perry is included in See also:Charles See also:Morris's Heroes of the Navy in See also:America (See also:Philadelphia and London, 1907). See also See also:William E. Griffis's Matthew Galbraith Perry, a Typical American Naval Officer (Boston, 1887).

End of Article: PERRY, MATTHEW CALBRAITH (1794–1858)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
PERRY (from Fr. Moire, from poire, a pear) 		[next]
PERRY, OLIVER HAZARD (1785-1819)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries