The eight ships of the Far East Squadron in Perry's return to Japan Perry now turned his attention to the small islands between Japan and China.  At the time, several of these were small kingdoms.  At each, Perry exacted a treaty similar to the one he would negotiate with Japan. The treaties provided sailors washed ashore would be well treated; that the king would sell supplies to American ships, in return Americans would buy from nobody else on the islands; and, that the kingdoms would serve as coal storage points for the American navy.  This last part encountered opposition.  The islanders had no wish to be responsible for coal that might be washed/blown away in a typhoon, pilfered by the natives, seized by pirates or other navies, etc., and then suffer the threatened consequences by the US Navy. A Russian fleet had reached Japan only a few weeks after Perry in 1853.  The Russians left hurriedly without a treaty on hearing the Crimean War had started ...

  A Japanese illustration of Commodore Perry  In 1853 Commodore Matthew Perry, USN carried a letter from then President Millard Fillmore to the Emperor of Japan. The letter invited Japan to open several ports and increase trade with the United States.  Japan had been closed for 220 years to all foreigners. A small group of Dutch traders residing in Nagasaki were the only contact the country had with the outside world.  Fillmore made the point that the outside world had changed over the centuries and Japan could no longer afford isolation.  While the tone of the President's letter was friendly, Commodore Perry's instructions were clear.  He was not to take "no" for an answer.  The following account of Perry's arrival in Japan was widely reprinted in American newspapers. Notice that Perry arrived in Japan on July 8, 1853 and news of the proceedings did not reach even the West coast of the US until November.  After delivering the letter, Perry told t...

     Coal driven steam engines powered ships across the Atlantic now in one to two weeks.  Under sail, it generally took about six weeks to sail from New York to England or Europe. Steam ships still carried a full complement of masts and sails both to provide movement if the engine failed or to conserve use of coal. Running a paddle wheel on one side of the ship faster than the other side allowed precise steering.      Newspapers printed lists, not only of which ships arrived and which departed, but also which ships had been “spoken,” that is, sighted at a particular time.      Despite progress, hazards remained the same.        Storms and hurricanes were unpredictable. Icebergs lurked in the far northern waters.          Ship travel increased dramatically and so did the loss of life.      Demand for better safety measures increased.  January 1, 1857 Baltimore n...

  The Rise of Steam—The Steam Rises Steam engines were used in various machines.  Here a fire wagon is pulled by a horse but the water is pumped by a steam engine.  Below   A steam powered loom made large textile factories possible.  The theory of using steam to run an engine was more than 100 years old by the time it came into widespread use. The theory is simple; water is heated to create high pressure steam injected into a cylinder, pushing a piston up and down or back and forth. The piston is connected to a shaft, which then moves to turn a propeller, a wheel on a locomotive, or some useful machine motion. Much more efficient engines could have been designed much earlier, however, metal fabrication and machining technology had not advanced far enough to have built better designs.   As metal working skills improved, designs for boiler shapes, piston connections, and even how the steam engine was positioned, quickly improved. By 1848, steam te...