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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Đ ợ i N a m t h ự c h n h c h i n h b iên , K h o a h ọ c Edmund Roberts, E m bassy to the Eastern Courts o f Cochin China New York, 1837, p.5 John White, A 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 Senate Documents 32n,i Congress Vol.7 Doc 18, (Report o f Joseph Balesticr to Secretary of State) 25 September 1851, p.37 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 , 2()(N .. .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... resid en t to 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... 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