KOREA WAR OF 1871

KOREA WAR OF 1871. In 1871 the United States engaged in undeclared hostilities with Korea as a result of the murder of Americans who illegally entered closed ports and the subsequent refusal of the Koreans to open their kingdom to foreign trade. By ancient custom, violation of Korean seclusion was a capital offense. Nonetheless, in 1866 an American merchant dispatched the General Sherman to open trade. When the schooner grounded on a sandbar, the Koreans—acting by royal command—burned the ship and murdered the crew.

The U.S.S. Shenandoah, sent to investigate, was denied all communication with the Korean capital. George F. Seward, consul general at Shanghai, suggested a punitive expedition, and on 26 May 1871 an American squadron arrived to survey the coast and meet with the king. When no favorable response came from the Koreans, the squadron began to move upriver. On 1 June masked batteries opened fire, and the Americans returned that fire.

The guardian-general of Fu-ping prefecture formally complained of the American presence but declared himself too humble to communicate the American message to his king. The Americans sent a second expedition and took five Korean batteries, but the Koreans still would not give the Americans an audience. On 2 July Edward B. Drew, acting secretary of legation at Peking, announced the squadron would withdraw to consult with Washington. Korea and the United States secured no treaty until 1882.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

LaFeber, Walter. The American Age: United States Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad since 1750. New York: Norton, 1989.

———. The New Empire: An Interpretation of American Expansion, 1860–1898. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1963, 1998.

AngelaEllis

Harry EmersonWildes

See alsoImperialism ; Korea, Relations with .