atthew Calbraith Perry (1794-1858), American naval officer, born at Newport, R. I. In July, 1813, during the War of 1812, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and from 1815 to 1817 he commanded a merchant vessel. He then re-entered the navy, and in 1819-20 was first lieutenant of the Cyane, which convoyed to Africa the first shipload of negroes sent out by the American Colonization Society. He spent the years 1833-43 on shore duty, for much of the time at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, of which he was commandant in 1841-43. Here he organized the Brooklyn Naval Lyceum and made valuable contributions to the development of the U. S. steam navy. In 1837 he was raised to the rank of captain, then the highest in the U. S. Navy. Perry was made special envoy of the U. S. to Japan in 1852, and in 1854 he rerturned to Japan and negotiated a treaty by which the U. S. gained permission to obtain wood, coal, and necessary stores and provisions needed by her ships in Japanese waters, and for her vessels to anchor in the ports of Shimoda and Hakodat. The negotiation of this treaty was Perry’s greatest achievement, and is an event of the greatest importance in the history of Japan; the treaty marks the first step in the opening of Japan to foreign commerce and residence. After his return Perry prepared his Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan (3 vols. 1856). He died in New York City, Mar. 4, 1858. [The Home University Encyclopedia, 1946]

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