Treaty of Kanagawa

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)
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This treaty was forced on Japan by the gunboat diplomacy of Britain and the United States who argued that Japan had a moral duty to adopt a policy of Free Trade. It ended the policy of isolation which had been maintained since 1635. The treaty allowed US to trade via the ports Shimoda and Hakodate and paved the way for the Harris Treaty of 1858 which would considerably extend Japanese compliance with Western demands. See the “Opening of Japan” for more information.

80 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Treaty of Kanagawa". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 December 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=4957, accessed 23 November 2024.]

4957 Treaty of Kanagawa 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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