DSpace at VNU: The beginning of the relationship between America and Vietnam: Historical lessons

VNU. JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, s o c ., SCI.. HUMAN.. N03E, 2004

THE BEGINNING OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AMERICA
AND VIETNAM: HISTORICAL LESSONS
V u M in h Giang**’

Am erica is a pow erful nation w hose
poten tials and in tern a tio n a l in flu en ce are
so great th a t every country, in its policy
m aking process, h as to tak e A m erica and
its relation ship w ith A m erica as a factor
into consideration. U n d er th e current
rapid and high ly in ten siv e but extrem ely
complex internationalization and globalization,
there ex ists an idea th a t th ere is a danger
of
id en tifyin g
G lobalization
w ith
A m ericanization. T h is poses a seriou s
problem to u s - sch olars in E a st A sia, a
region w ith different cu ltu ral trad itions
from oth ers - to think over and exchange
id eas to find out the b est so lu tio n s th a t can
both cope w ith th e com m on trend and
bring into play the a d v a n ta g es o f the
traditional cu ltu ral v alu es. Looking back
ovei' the first con tacts b etw een Am erica
and V ietnam is not only m eaningful to
h istorian s but also u sefu l to th e current as
w ell as th e future know ledge. In th is

article, an attem p t is m ade to look
objectively at the n atu re of the first
contacts betw een V ietn am and A m erica so
as to draw som e h istorical lesson s.
H opefully, w h a t w ill be d iscu ssed below
w ill, more or less, a s sis t our th o u g h ts in
the current com plex ch an gin g world.

1.

The
First
Contacts
Vietnam and America

native country, in w hich h e expressed a
special concern about the inform ation
given by Pierre Poivre about agriculture in
the South o f V ietn am . He asked a son of
N guyen Anh (w ho later becam e King Gia
Long), Prince C anh, w ho w as in France
then to g et him som e V ietn a m ese rice
seed s [6]. T h is can b e regarded as the
ea rliest in form ation about th e concern
about V ietn am o f th e A m ericans.
In 1801 T h om as Jefferson w as elected
the third p resid en t of th e U nited S ta tes of
Am erica. It h as rem ained a w onder w hy a
year after Jefferson w as in power, a
com m ercial ship nam ed Frame captained

by Jerem iah B rigg w as se n t to V ietnam to
collect inform ation and stu d y sugar and
coffee su p p lyin g sources for the Am erican
m arket.
T h e Frame landed Da N ang port on
May 218t 1803. H ere C aptain Brigg met
two w arsh ip s of th e N gu yen d y n a sty ’s navy
conducted by the French. They advised
Brigg to go to H ue to have a formal
in terview w ith K ing G ia Long. However,
the A m erican ca p ta in th en w as arranged
to m eet w ith th e rep resen ta tiv e of the
N guyen d yn asty, a few clergym en, and
French n avy’s officers who w ere under
K ing Gia Long. A fter obtaining some
inform ation, th e Frame left V ietnam for
M anila on J u n e 10th 1803. It w as th e first
American ship to arrive in V ietnam (4, p.3].
T his ev en t is m en tion ed in th e V ietnam ese
historical d ocu m en ts. [1, V.3, p p l3 4 t 193].

between

According to th e ex ta n t d ocum ents in
America, in J u ly 1787, T h om as Jefferson,
then rep resen tative o f th e U n ited S ta tes of
Am erica in France w rote a letter to h is

n

It w as not u n til 16 y ea rs later th at the
second A m erican sh ip arrived in Vietnam .
Prof.Dr.Sc., Vietnam National University. Hanoi.

14


The beginning of the relationship between America and Vietnam: historical lessons

It w as the Franklin conducted by C aptain
John W hite. The Ship arrived in Vung Tau
port on Jan u ary F* 1819. J. W hite had a
m eetin g w ith local officials and they
prom ised to issu e him perm its to en ter
Saigon. Yet th e captain w aited w ithout
replies. A local official said th at foreign
sh ip s need ed perm ission from the dyn asty
to en ter Saigon. T hus, J. W hite m ade a
decision to go to Hue to h ave a direct
form al talk w ith the King. U nfortun ately,
K ing Gia Long w as then on holiday in the
northern part o f V ietnam (Bac Ha) so J.
W hite’s plan w as not su ccessful. The
cap tain decided to leave for M anila w ith
the hope to find an in terpreter then
returned to V ietnam .
A fter th e arrival of th e Franklin, there
w ere three more A m erican sh ip s (the
M armion, the Aurora and th e Beverly) to
call a t V ung Tau and Da N an g ports, yet

none of them m anaged to ach ieve their
trade aim s. T h ese sh ip s on e after another
left for M anila and m et J. W hite there.
A fter an in terp reter w a s found, L. W hite
ask ed C aptain John Brown to together
steer the M arm ion back to V ietnam . The
tw o Am erican sh ip s arrived in V ung Tau

port on September 25th 1819. This time J.
W hite w as given p erm its to en ter Saigon.
A fter collecting som e goods, m ost o f which
w ere su gar and raw silk , th e two sh ip s left
Saigon port on J a n u a ry 30th 1820. J. W hite
arrived in Salem on A ugu st 30th 1820,
after a tw en ty-m on th voyage.
book en titled A
Voyage to Cochin China published in
Boston in 1823. The book had a great
in flu en ce on th e a ttitu d es o f A m ericans,
p articularly
th o se
o f the
Am erican
b u sin essm en tow ards V ietnam . A part from
th e vivid and d etailed descrip tions which
are of docum ental v alu e about various
asp ects of life, w hich helped readers have
J.

W hite

w rote

a

VN IỈ. Journal t)f Science, Soc., Sri., Human.. N ịt3E. 2004

15

part o f th e picture o f V ietnam and its
people in early 19,h century, J. White
provided som e com m en ts that discouraged
A m ericans w ho had in ten tio n s to seek for
b u sin ess op p ortu n ities in th is distant, land.
J. W hite appraised: “D uring the tim e I
was in this country , all that I learnt about

it were villainy a nd turpitude. They
completely lacked honesty so they often
tried to play tricks on us a nd were experts
on
finding
tricks
to
hide
their
responsibilities. They can easily get all
these with our open attitude a n d serious
way o f doing business. A ll serious business
affairs were, in the end, trifling things.

There was not any insurance to every
affair\ except for docum entary contracts,
which were hardly ever had. They dared to
use any tricks to sw indle businessmen who
get them annoyed for money. Apart from
these, the authorities greediness, shiftiness,
cruelty , and anti-com mercial character
should drive this land to be the least
attractive place, even for the most
adventurous businessm en ...” [3].
A fterw ards, a French w ho read the
book su g g ested th a t J. W hite judged the
local people w ith th e view o f a Rigid
P uritan and n ever asked h im self how he
had behaved to them .

2. Diplomatic Efforts to Set up Trade
Relation
It is lik ely th a t in the early days the
concern o f th e A m ericans about V ietnam
w as greater th an th a t o f N guyen dynasty
about them . U nder th e Gia Long regim e
(1802*1820), th e d yn asty had
m any
relation s w ith th e W est, esp ecially with
France so the p resen ce o f the American
sh ip s had not draw n a tten tio n so far.
M oreover, th e lack o f local cu stom s made
th e A m ericans su sp ect o f th e local people
and au th orities.

16

Vu Minh Giang

A lthough Brigg and J. W h ite’s m ission
in
in v estig a tin g
th e
p o ssib ilities
of
e sta b lish in g trad e rela tio n s w ith V ietn am
m igh t be con sid ered a fa ilu re, th e u s
rep resen ta tiv e a g en cy in B a ta v ia had a

proposal did not com ply w ith th e essen tia l
form u las o f v en eration tow ards th e King of
V ietn am . T h ey even q u estion ed th e
p artn er and after b ein g exp lained th a t th e
U S P resid en t w as th e one w ho w as elected

different view. In 1826, the American

by the people, they concluded that the

Envoy Joh n S h illa b er se n t a le tte r to th e
n ative cou n try to recom m end greater
exp an sion of th e a c tiv itie s o f trad e sh ip s in
A tlan tic cou n tries, w hich in clu d ed Cochin

C hina (th e S ou th o f V ietn am ). J. W hite
se n t a n u m ber of le tte r s p ersu a d in g th e by
th en A m erican P resid en t to d ele g a te him
pow ers in n eg o tia tin g trad e a g reem en ts.
The efforts m ade by th e E nvoy w ere
su ccessfu l after A ndrew Jack son w as
elected p resid en t o f th e U n ited S ta te s in
1929. A d eleg a tio n
led by E dm und
Roberts, w hich w a s d irectly s e n t by th e
P resid en t, brou gh t th e trad e a g ree m en t
across th e In dian O cean to V ietn am to sign
w ith th e N g u y en d y n a sty . T he w arsh ip
Peacock carried th e d eleg a tio n to V un g
Lam (a p lace in Phu Y en) a t th e b eg in n in g
of Jan u ary 1832. R e p r e se n ta tiv e s o f th e
local a u th o ritie s w e n t up to th e sh ip and
asked carefu lly ab ou t th e A m erica n s’
in ten tion . A fter a ten -d a y ’s w a itin g , on
J an u ary 17th, th e d y n a sty se n t tw o
m an d arin s and an esco rt th ere to n eg o tia te
w ith Edm und R oberts, y e t a fter m an y days
o f d iscu ssion it w a s still im p o ssib le for
both sid es to sign th e a g reem en t. E dm und
R oberts a ssu m ed th a t th e N g u y en d y n a sty
w as fu lly resp o n sib le for th e failure.
A ccording
to
him ,
th e

dip lom atic
procedures w ere far too com p licated .
B esid es, sen ior o fficia ls o f th e d y n a sty did
n ot h ave clear id ea s and u su a lly evad ed
direct q u estio n s
from
th e A m erican
partner. T he V ie tn a m e se officials th en
w ere too h e sita n t and c a u tio u s and a lw a y s
sh ow ed th eir su sp icion . T he major reason
for th e d isa g reem e n t o f th e N g u y en
d yn asty w as, at la st, th e d ocu m en tary
problem s. T h ey said th a t th e w ords in th e

A m erican P resid en t w as not on th e sam e
rank or h ierarch y w ith th e V ietn a m ese
K ing [2]...
H istory h as sh ow n u s th at th e two
m an d arin s se n t by th e N guyen d y n a sty to
n eg o tia te w ith E dm und Roberts w ere
N g u y en Tri P huong and Ly Van Phuc.
A fter liste n in g to th e proposal and th e
cred en tia l from th e u s P resid en t, they
con sid ered it inappropriate th en , and
w ith o u t su b m ittin g to th e K ing, they
replied th a t the V ietn a m ese K ing would
not p roh ib it th e trad in g a ctiv ities u n less
th e se obeyed th e defined law of the
country. So th e A m erican sh ip s had to
anchor a t Tra Son bay (Da N ang) and w ere

not allow ed to build h ou ses on land.
E d m u n d s d elegation left V ietnam after
receiv in g th e note [1, volu m e 11, p. 231].
A ccording to th e letter o f Joseph
B a slestier,
th e
A m erican
E nvoy
to
S in gap ore to Forsyth, th e secretary at the
P re sid en t’s
office
provided
different
in form ation . A ccording to th e n ew s source
w hich
J o sep h
B a sle stie r
considered
reliab le, th e reason for the A m erican
failure in sig n in g th e trade a g reem en t
w ith V ietn a m w a s th a t th e letter w a s sen t
to th e K ing too late. A fter receivin g th e
letter, K ing M inh M ang in v ited the
d eleg a tio n and th e crew o f the Peacock to
H ue b u t by th e tim e the letter arrived at
th e port, E dm und R oberts’ ship had
alread y left.
P erh ap s Josep h B a slestie r th ou gh t h is
a sse ss m e n t w as righ t so a s soon a s he w as

ap p oin ted th e Envoy to S in gap ore, he tried
to p ersu a d e th e P resid en t to con tin u e the

V N V , Jo u rn al o f Science, Site.. Sci . Human . N .JE . 2004


The beginning of Che relationship between America and Vietnam: historical lessons

negotiation to sign th e trade a g reem en t
w ith V ietnam . Edm und Roberts again w as
assign ed w ith the m ission.
Edm und
Roberts’s d elegation arrived in Tra Son
bay on M ay 15,h 1836. A gain trouble
happened. Soon after arriving in V ietn am ,
Edm und Roberts w as serio u sly ill so w hen
the rep resen tative of the N guyen dyn asty
arrived he w a s not able to receive them .
The N guyen d y n a sty ’s officials considered
it an offense. On th e oth er hand, the
American d elegation asked th e p artn er to
reply to P resid en t A ndrew Jack son w ith in
three days b u t th e H ue d y n a sty could not
m anage it a s good in terp reters w ere aw ay
on business.
The resu lt of th e second n eg o tia tio n
w as the sa m e as the first one. T he trade
agreem ent rem ained u n signed.
3. T h e C o n s titu tio n D e stro y e r E v e n t
W hile

th e A m erican
E nvoy
to
Singapore J o sep h B a slestie r w a s finding
solutions to th e problem s o f sig n in g th e
trade agreem en t w ith th e N gu yen d yn asty,
a regretful ev en t happened w hich stron gly
affected th e relation b etw een th e tw o
countries. T he A m erican C onstitution
Destroyer steered by John P ercival stopped
by Da N ang bay to buy food and d rinking
w ater on M ay 14th 1845 w h en th ey m et
local guards w ho w ere tracing for a French
priest. John Percival p rom u lgated to
attack the guards to rescu e th e p riest. T he
m andarins a ssig n ed by th e d y n a sty to
solve the ca se w ere d etain ed a s h o sta g e s
[4, p.47]. According to historical docum ents,
the even t happened in 1844 and th e two
m andarins w ere d iplom ats N g u y en Long
and Viceroy N guyen D ang G iai [1, volu m e
25, p. 282]. A fter th at, the relation
betw een th e N gu yen d yn asty and A m erica
becam e
in ten siv e.
P resid en t
Zachary
Taylor im m ed iately sen t B a sle stie r a s
special Envoy to deal w ith th e ca se and to

V'N U . Journal o f Sitenet' . Soc .. Sri., Human..

N ,JE . 2004

17

prom ote n eg o tia tio n for sig n in g the trade
agreem en t. B a s le s tie r s d elegation arrived
in Da N a n g on M arch 13th 1850. The
person in ch arged o f receivin g th e
d elegation w a s Q u an g N a m ’s provincial

mandarin. According to Baslestier s report,
th e V ietn a m ese m an d arin refu sed to
receive th e A m erican P r e sid e n t’s letter as
th e P resid en t allo w ed h is navy to kill
V ietn a m ese p eop le rig h t in V ietn a m ese
land. B a sle stie r w arn ed th e m andarin th at
h is refu sal to receiv e th e le tte r w ould be
an offen ce to th e u s P resid en t, yet h e k ept
h is a ttitu d e u n ch a n g ed . T he talk lasted for
th ree hours. B a sle s tie r w aited for th ree
m ore days to se e if h is p artn er w ould show
an y com m otion, but n o th in g h ap pened.
T he A m erican d eleg a tio n left Da N a n g for
T h a ila n d on M arch 16th [5]. V ietn a m ese
h istorical d o cu m en ts d escrib e th e v isit by
B a slestie r s d eleg a tio n a s a kind of
e x p ressin g ap ology for w h a t th e A m erican
w arsh ip had done five y ea rs before. Since

th is e v en t, th ere had b een alm ost no
official A m erican d ele g a tio n s to V ietn am .
4 . B u i V ie n ’s V i s i t t o A m e r ic a
In 1858, French n avy op en ed fire to
atta ck Da N a n g port, m arking the
b eg in n in g o f th e F rench con q u est of
V ietn am by force. T he N g u y en d y n asty did
not m an age to fig h t a g a in s t th e invader.
M an y m ajor a rea s w ere occupied by th e
French. M any so lu tio n s w ere su g g ested to
sa v e th e situation» on e o f w hich w as to
seek a ssista n c e from pow erful n ation s. The
U S , w ith its a n ti-co lo n ia lism policy, w as
co n sid ered to be a n a tio n th a t could help
V ietn am th en . T h e N g u y en d yn asty sen t
Bui V ien to th e u s in 1873 to ask for help.
B ui V ien first w e n t to th e u s co n su la te in
H ong K ong and th ere h e w a s w elcom ed by
th e r ep re se n ta tiv e o f th e u s . M aking u se
o f th is a d v a n ta g e, Bui V ien w en t stra ig h t
to Y okoham a th en to A m erica. T h an k s to
m an y frie n d s’ h elp , h e w a s able to m eet


Vu Minh Giang

18

P resid en t S im p son G rant. T he P resid en t
supported

V ietn am 's
fig h t
a g a in st
colonialism , y e t he could n ot prom ise
a n y th in g a s Bui V ien did not bring w ith
him an official cred en tia l th en . Bui V ien
decided to re tu rn to Vietnam to ask for the
cred en tial, b u t th en w e k n ew th e u s
govern m en t had ch a n g ed th eir view . C lose
relation sh ip w ith th e F rench w ould bring
more b en efits to th e u s , w hich m ea n t th a t
th ey could not a s s is t V ietn a m to figh t
a g a in st French co lon ialism .

5. Historical Lessons
It can be inferred from th e abovem entioned e v e n ts th a t th e rela tio n sh ip
b etw een th e u s and V ietn a m had a
p ositive b egin n in g , sta r tin g w ith T h om as
J efferson ’s in te r e st in V ietn a m , th e land
th at before th a t had b een a lm o st u n kn ow n
to the A m erican. T he u s g o v ern m en t th en ,
b ein g attracted by th e trade p o ten tia l in
Cochin C hina and th rou gh th e a c tiv itie s o f
th e U S ’s em b assy in S in gap ore, had active
step s in e sta b lish in g trad e relation w ith
V ietnam .
H ow ever, th e d ifferen ces in cu ltu re and
cu stom s w ere a big b arrier p rev en tin g the
relation sh ip w ith th e u s and V ietn am
from d eveloping. D esp ite th e fact th a t the

U S had m ade co n sid era b le efforts in
e sta b lish in g th e rela tio n sh ip , it lacked
u n d ersta n d in g and p a tien ce w hich w ere o f

n ecessity in n eg o tia tin g w ith th e N guyen
dynasty. The ev en t of the Destroyer
Constitution
a tta ck in g
the
N guyen
d y n a sty ’s guards and
d etain in g the
governors as h o sta g es m ade the dyn asty’s
tru st in the Americans, which was very
little, becom e even less.
On the part o f the N g u y en dynasty, the
u n d erstan d in g about th e u s w as alm ost
n othing u n til the French attacked Da
N ang (1858). T he K ings often considered
th em selv es civilized
people and the
A m erican sa v a g e ones. T h ey even did not
show in terest in th eir proposals- The
m andarins often th o u g h t o f th e A m ericans
as "cunning, m a ch ia v ellia n ” so their
reaction w as very cau tiou s.
U nder
d ifficu lties
because
of

con tinuous lo sses in fig h tin g a g a in st the
French colonialism » th e N g u y en dynasty
gradually took on m ore practical view s,
th ey even w anted to seek a ssista n ce from
the US, but th e p o ssib ility of estab lish in g
a friendly relation b etw een the two
cou n tries had already gone.
The b ig g est h istorical lesso n which can
be draw n from the first con tacts betw een
V ietnam and th e u s is to g iv e first priority
to m utual u n d ersta n d in g and to patiently
find solu tion s to th e d isa g reem en ts and
m isu n d erstan d in gs. U n til th is day, th is
h istorical lesso n still rem a in s valid.

REFERENCES
1.

Đ ợ i N a m t h ự c h à n h c h i n h b iên , K h o a h ọ c

2.

Edmund Roberts, E m bassy to the Eastern Courts o f Cochin China. New York, 1837, p.5.

3.

John White, A

4.

Robert Hopkins Miller, The United States a n d

Publishing House, 1963.

Voyage to Cochin China, Oxford University Press, 1972, p.247
Vietnam 1787-1941> National Defense University Press,

Washington DC 1990, p.3.
5.

Senate Documents 32n,i Congress. Vol.7. Doc. 18, (Report o f Joseph Balesticr to Secretary of State) 25
September 1851, p.37.

6.

The Papers from Thomas Jefferson, Princeton University Press, 1958, vol. 11, p.645.

V N V . Journal o f Science. S o t.. S c i. Hitman

. N lriE ,

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