Steamships and Samurai: How The Perry Expedition Shattered Feudal Japan
And inadvertently created America’s biggest Pacific rival
6 min readApr 29, 2024
On July 8th, 1853, four American warships, commanded by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, steamed into Edo Bay, Japan. He had been given a mandate to end the Japanese policy of isolation and open up the country to American trade. Perry wasted no time and…