The one thing I have against the National Archives is that is takes up so much of my time … I get completely engrossed in the images they post online. Here’s a great one, the letter from Lincoln nominating Seward to be Secretary of State. Here’s a great photo of William Seward taken by Matthew […]

In January 1860, the Tokugawa shogunate sent a delegation to the United States with the primary objective of ratifying the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation (aka, the Harris Treaty). Commodore Matthew Perry (not Chandler) had opened Japan (forcefully) in 1854 and this was the first Japanese diplomatic mission sent to the United States. This historic event is particularly […]