Monopolists to Middlemen: Dutch Liberalism and American Imperialism in the Opening of Japan

The so-called opening of Japan is often seen as a victory for American gunboat diplomacy, accomplished through the expert negotiations of Commodore Matthew Perry. The successful conclusion of this action was the beginning of an American presence in the Pacific. The Dutch, who had trading relations with Japan since 1609, are seen as irrelevant, generally vilified, or despised as weak. This article draws on primarily Dutch archival sources to demonstrate that the Dutch in fact skillfully navigated very rough diplomatic waters and smoothed the American treaty process with the Tokugawa shogunate.