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Jared Alessi, MMC
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Perry, Matthew (Commodore), CAPT.
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Last Address Newport
Date of Passing Mar 04, 1858
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Matthew Calbraith Perry was born in Newport, Rhode Island, on 10 April 1794, son of Captain Christopher R. Perry, a distinguished officer of the Revolutionary War, and Sarah Wallace (Alexander) Perry. In 1814 he was married to Jan Sliddell, and they had ten children. He died in New York City, on 4 March 1858, and was interred in the vaults of the Church of St. Mark's-in-the-Bouwerie in New York. On 21 March 1866, the bodies of Commodore Perry and his child, Anna who died in 1839, were reinterred in Newport, Rhode Island.
Appointed Midshipman in 1809, he first saw service under his brother, Oliver Hazard Perry, in the Revenge. During the War of 1812, he served in squadrons commanded by Commodores Rodgers and Decatur and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1813. He made several cruises to the coast of Africa and to the Mediterranean, and commanded the schooner Shark in the West Indies. He was promoted to master commandant in 1826 and named a captain eleven years later. From 1838 to 1840 he commanded the steam frigate Fulton in connection with experiments in steam navigation.
In 1844 he went to the coast of Africa as Commodore of the squadron assigned to those waters. During the Mexican War, he joined the Home Squadron in the Gulf of Mexico in 1846, and conducted several expeditions against the towns of Tobasco and Laguna. In March 1847 he succeeded Commodore Connor in command of the squadron, which was then engaged in besieging Vera Cruz. After the war he was ordered home on special duty, 1849-1852, after which he sailed for the East Indies on a cruise which became memorable in the annals of the U.S. Navy, and during which he carried the American flag into Japanese waters, and concluded a treaty which opened their ports to American enterprise.
His success in establishing good relations with Japan can be attributed to his combining diplomacy with dignity and a bold display of impressive force. On 8 July 1853, he unexpectedly appeared in Tokyo Bay with two steam frigates and two sloops-of-war. He declined to deal with minor officials, flatly refused to obey directions to go to Nagasaki (where the Dutch had a trading post), dispersed the swarms of guard-boats surrounding the squadron by threatening the use of force, and deliberately disregarded a prohibition against taking soundings. He insisted upon presenting to a high official on shore, a letter from President Fillmore addressed to the Japanese Emperor. This was reluctantly agreed to by uneasy Japanese. On 14 July the steam frigates Susquehanna and Mississippi moved close to the shore and landed 400 seamen and marines. The Commodore followed with special attendants, proceeded with much pomp to the council house and presented his documents very formally to the Princes Iduzu and Iwami. They gave a receipt.
Three days later Perry sailed away leaving word that he would return for an answer. After seven months he entered the bay again, and with a much more powerful squadron. His reception was most cordial, gifts and entertainments were exchanged, and the treaty was negotiated, opening two ports to American commerce.
Commodore Perry returned to Washington and was on special duty in the Navy Department for several years, connected with his expedition to Japan.
Mexican-American War
From Month/Year
January / 1846
To Month/Year
March / 1848
Description The Mexican–American War, also known as the Mexican War, the U.S.–Mexican War or the Invasion of Mexico (Spanish: Intervención estadounidense en México, Guerra de Estados Unidos-México), was an armed conflict between the United States of America and the United Mexican States from 1846 to 1848. It followed in the wake of the 1845 U.S. annexation of Texas, which Mexico considered part of its territory in spite of its de facto secession in the 1836 Texas Revolution.
After its independence in 1821 and brief experiment with monarchy, Mexico became a republic in 1824. It was characterized by considerable instability, leaving it ill-prepared for conflict when war broke out in 1846. Native American raids in Mexico's sparsely settled north in the decades preceding the war prompted the Mexican government to sponsor migration from the U.S. to the Mexican province of Texas to create a buffer. However, Texans from both countries revolted against the Mexican government in the 1836 Texas Revolution, creating a republic not recognized by Mexico, which still claimed it as part of its national territory. In 1845, Texas agreed to an offer of annexation by the U.S. Congress, and became the 28th state on December 29 that year.
In 1845, James K. Polk, the newly-elected U.S. president, made a proposition to the Mexican government to purchase the disputed lands between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. When that offer was rejected, American forces commanded by Major General Zachary Taylor were moved into the disputed territory of Coahuila. They were then attacked by Mexican forces, who killed 12 U.S. soldiers and took 52 as prisoners. These same Mexican troops later laid siege to an American fort along the Rio Grande. This led to the war and the eventual loss of much of Mexico's northern territory.
U.S. forces quickly occupied Santa Fe de Nuevo México and Alta California Territory, and then invaded parts of Central Mexico (modern-day Northeastern Mexico and Northwest Mexico); meanwhile, the Pacific Squadron conducted a blockade, and took control of several garrisons on the Pacific coast farther south in Baja California Territory. The U.S. army, under the command of Major General Winfield Scott, captured the capital, Mexico City, marching from the port of Veracruz.
The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war and specified its major consequence: the Mexican Cession of the territories of Alta California and Santa Fe de Nuevo México to the United States. The U.S. agreed to pay $15 million compensation for the physical damage of the war. In addition, the United States assumed $3.25 million of debt owed by the Mexican government to U.S. citizens. Mexico acknowledged the loss of Texas and thereafter cited the Rio Grande as its national border with the United States.
The territorial expansion of the United States toward the Pacific coast had been the goal of US President James K. Polk, the leader of the Democratic Party. At first, the war was highly controversial in the United States, with the Whig Party, anti-imperialists, and anti-slavery elements strongly opposed. Critics in the United States pointed to the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces and the conflict's high monetary cost. The war intensified the debate over slavery in the United States, contributing to bitter debates that culminated in the American Civil War.
In Mexico, the war came in the middle of political turmoil, which increased into chaos during the conflict. The military defeat and loss of territory was a disastrous blow, causing Mexico to enter "a period of self-examination ... as its leaders sought to identify and address the reasons that had led to such a debacle." In the immediate aftermath of the war, some prominent Mexicans wrote that the war had resulted in "the state of degradation and ruin" in Mexico, further claiming, for "the true origin of the war, it is sufficient to say that the insatiable ambition of the United States, favored by our weakness, caused it." The shift in the Mexico-U.S. border left many Mexican citizens separated from their national government. For the indigenous peoples who had never accepted Mexican rule, the change in border meant conflicts with a new outside power.
