Episode 2 of 2

Ratification and Exchange

When: 1858-1860
Where: Washington (institutional context; ratifications exchanged outside Japan)
Part of: United States and Japan sign Treaty of Amity and Commerce

The treaty was ratified by the US Senate in 1858 and exchanged in Washington in 1860, following the first Japanese Embassy visit.

The US Senate consented to ratification in December 1858. The President ratified the treaty in April 1860, and ratifications were exchanged in Washington in May 1860, solidifying the agreement's legal status.

Sources

Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United States–Japan) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-29

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.