Perry, the "black ships," and the unequal treaties

On July 8, 1853, American Commodore Matthew Perry sailed into Uraga Bay with four warships that came to be known as the "black ships." He carried a letter from President Millard Fillmore requesting commercial access and protection for shipwrecked sailors, and the evident technological superiority of the steam-powered, heavily armed American vessels both impressed and alarmed Japanese authorities. Perry returned in February 1854 with an even larger fleet to demand an answer, and on March 31, 1854, Japan signed the Convention of Kanagawa, its first treaty with the United States, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate and guaranteeing protection for shipwrecked American sailors. Britain, Russia, and the Netherlands soon signed similar treaties, and the shogunate broke with its tradition of unilateral decision-making by consulting the daimyo on how to respond, a move that exposed its internal divisions.