March 8
1874 Millard Fillmore, U.S. President 1850-1853, died. Fillmore became president when Zachary Taylor died. In 1852 Fillmore directed Matthew C. Perry to assemble a naval force to go to Japan. In 1853 Perry's black ships sailed into Edo (Tokyo) Bay carrying a letter from Fillmore which requested that American ships be permitted to resupply at Japanese ports, that shipwrecked sailors be given help, and that Japanese officials consider opening the country to trade. In 1854, after James Buchanan had replaced Fillmore as president, Perry returned to Japan and negotiated the Kanagawa Treaty which ended Japan's so-called seclusion.
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© 2001 UCLA Center for East Asian Studies