Bakumatsu

>>3343701
Trade relations, and the political foothold that goes with it, in East Asia. Remember, by this point, the biggest market in the region, China, had already mostly been swallowed up by the various European great powers, and America was working to hammer out some sort of free trade for everyone setup there as well.

>>3343701
This
>>3343706
And also Perry was a bit peeved that the previous guy had been basically told to "fuck off," by a bunch of backwards barbarians.

Yeah gunboat diplomacy is pretty sinister.

>>3343701
Perry realized that his women would only exist to be BLACKED in the post civil rights future, so he took out an insurance policy securing yellow women for little white dicks

>>3343701
FUCKING MONEY.

>>3343701

A more pragmatic issue at the time was that America needed a coaling port in the far east. All the Pacific Islands had already been gobbled up by the other European powers, who also had concession ports in China.