Commodore Matthew C. Perry embarks from Norfolk, Virginia for Japan, in command of the East India Squadron in pursuit of a Japanese trade treaty, on November 24, 1852.

Perry has been assigned a mission by American President Millard Fillmore to force the opening of Japanese ports to American trade, through the use of gunboat diplomacy if necessary.

The growing commerce between the United States and China, the presence of American whalers in waters offshore Japan, and the increasing monopolization of potential coaling stations by the British and French in Asia are all contributing factors.

The Americans were also driven by concepts of manifest destiny and the desire to expand western civilization to what they perceive as more backward Asian nations.