Existing comment:
Matthew C. Perry, 1794-1858
Born Newport, Rhode Island
Rising through the ranks from midshipman to commodore, Matthew C. Perry laid the foundation for a professionally trained, technologically superior U. S. Navy that could hold its own throughout the world. In 1854, while on a mission for the United States government, Perry personally negotiated a historic treaty with Japan, establishing diplomatic and trade relations between that nation and the United States for the first time. His success in obtaining American access to a country that had effectively sealed itself off from foreign contact for several centuries was one of the most important diplomatic achievements of the nineteenth century.
Alexander Beckers and Victor Piard, c 1855 |