Professional Documents
Culture Documents
N03E, 2004
V u M in h Giang**’
14
The beginning of the relationship between America and Vietnam: historical lessons 15
A lthough Brigg and J. W h ite’s m ission proposal did not com ply w ith th e essen tia l
in in v estig a tin g th e p o ssib ilities of form u las o f v en eration tow ards th e King of
e sta b lish in g trad e rela tio n s w ith V ietn am V ietn am . T h ey even q u estion ed th e
m igh t be con sid ered a fa ilu re, th e u s p artn er and after b ein g exp lained th a t th e
rep resen ta tiv e a g en cy in B a ta v ia had a 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 A m erican P resid en t w as not on th e sam e
n ative cou n try to recom m end greater rank or h ierarch y w ith th e V ietn a m ese
exp an sion of th e a c tiv itie s o f trad e sh ip s in K ing [2]...
A tlan tic cou n tries, w hich in clu d ed Cochin
H istory h as sh ow n u s th at th e two
C hina (th e S ou th o f V ietn am ). J. W hite
m an d arin s se n t by th e N guyen d y n a sty to
se n t a n u m ber of le tte r s p ersu a d in g th e by
n eg o tia te w ith E dm und Roberts w ere
th en A m erican P resid en t to d ele g a te him
N g u y en Tri P huong and Ly Van Phuc.
pow ers in n eg o tia tin g trad e a g reem en ts.
A fter liste n in g to th e proposal and th e
The efforts m ade by th e E nvoy w ere
cred en tia l from th e u s P resid en t, they
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 con sid ered it inappropriate th en , and
1929. A d eleg a tio n led by E dm und w ith o u t su b m ittin g to th e K ing, they
Roberts, w hich w a s d irectly s e n t by th e replied th a t the V ietn a m ese K ing would
P resid en t, brou gh t th e trad e a g ree m en t not p roh ib it th e trad in g a ctiv ities u n less
across th e In dian O cean to V ietn am to sign th e se obeyed th e defined law of the
w ith th e N g u y en d y n a sty . T he w arsh ip country. So th e A m erican sh ip s had to
Peacock carried th e d eleg a tio n to V un g anchor a t Tra Son bay (Da N ang) and w ere
Lam (a p lace in Phu Y en) a t th e b eg in n in g not allow ed to build h ou ses on land.
of Jan u ary 1832. R e p r e se n ta tiv e s o f th e E d m u n d s d elegation left V ietnam after
local a u th o ritie s w e n t up to th e sh ip and receiv in g th e note [1, volu m e 11, p. 231].
asked carefu lly ab ou t th e A m erica n s’ A ccording to th e letter o f Joseph
in ten tion . A fter a ten -d a y ’s w a itin g , on B a slestier, th e A m erican E nvoy to
J an u ary 17th, th e d y n a sty se n t tw o
S in gap ore to Forsyth, th e secretary at the
m an d arin s and an esco rt th ere to n eg o tia te
P re sid en t’s office provided different
w ith Edm und R oberts, y e t a fter m an y days
in form ation . A ccording to th e n ew s source
o f d iscu ssion it w a s still im p o ssib le for
w hich J o sep h B a sle stie r considered
both sid es to sign th e a g reem en t. E dm und
reliab le, th e reason for the A m erican
R oberts a ssu m ed th a t th e N g u y en d y n a sty
failure in sig n in g th e trade a g reem en t
w as fu lly resp o n sib le for th e failure.
w ith V ietn a m w a s th a t th e letter w a s sen t
A ccording to him , th e dip lom atic
procedures w ere far too com p licated . to th e K ing too late. A fter receivin g th e
B esid es, sen ior o fficia ls o f th e d y n a sty did letter, K ing M inh M ang in v ited the
n ot h ave clear id ea s and u su a lly evad ed d eleg a tio n and th e crew o f the Peacock to
direct q u estio n s from th e A m erican H ue b u t by th e tim e the letter arrived at
partner. T he V ie tn a m e se officials th en th e port, E dm und R oberts’ ship had
w ere too h e sita n t and c a u tio u s and a lw a y s alread y left.
sh ow ed th eir su sp icion . T he major reason P erh ap s Josep h B a slestie r th ou gh t h is
for th e d isa g reem e n t o f th e N g u y en a sse ss m e n t w as righ t so a s soon a s he w as
d yn asty w as, at la st, th e d ocu m en tary ap p oin ted th e Envoy to S in gap ore, he tried
problem s. T h ey said th a t th e w ords in th e
to p ersu a d e th e P resid en t to con tin u e the
negotiation to sign th e trade a g reem en t prom ote n eg o tia tio n for sig n in g the trade
w ith V ietnam . Edm und Roberts again w as agreem en t. B a s le s tie r s d elegation arrived
assign ed w ith the m ission. Edm und in Da N a n g on M arch 13th 1850. The
Roberts’s d elegation arrived in Tra Son person in ch arged o f receivin g th e
bay on M ay 15,h 1836. A gain trouble d elegation w a s Q u an g N a m ’s provincial
happened. Soon after arriving in V ietn am , mandarin. According to Baslestier s report,
Edm und Roberts w as serio u sly ill so w hen th e V ietn a m ese m an d arin refu sed to
the rep resen tative of the N guyen dyn asty receive th e A m erican P r e sid e n t’s letter as
arrived he w a s not able to receive them . 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
The N guyen d y n a sty ’s officials considered
land. B a sle stie r w arn ed th e m andarin th at
it an offense. On th e oth er hand, the
h is refu sal to receiv e th e le tte r w ould be
American d elegation asked th e p artn er to
an offen ce to th e u s P resid en t, yet h e k ept
reply to P resid en t A ndrew Jack son w ith in
h is a ttitu d e u n ch a n g ed . T he talk lasted for
three days b u t th e H ue d y n a sty could not
th ree hours. B a sle s tie r w aited for th ree
m anage it a s good in terp reters w ere aw ay
m ore days to se e if h is p artn er w ould show
on business. an y com m otion, but n o th in g h ap pened.
The resu lt of th e second n eg o tia tio n T he A m erican d eleg a tio n left Da N a n g for
w as the sa m e as the first one. T he trade T h a ila n d on M arch 16th [5]. V ietn a m ese
agreem ent rem ained u n signed. 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
3. T h e C o n s titu tio n D e stro y e r E v e n t
e x p ressin g ap ology for w h a t th e A m erican
W hile th e A m erican E nvoy to w arsh ip had done five y ea rs before. Since
Singapore J o sep h B a slestie r w a s finding th is e v en t, th ere had b een alm ost no
solutions to th e problem s o f sig n in g th e official A m erican d ele g a tio n s to V ietn am .
trade agreem en t w ith th e N gu yen d yn asty,
4 . B u i V ie n ’s V i s i t t o A m e r ic a
a regretful ev en t happened w hich stron gly
affected th e relation b etw een th e tw o In 1858, French n avy op en ed fire to
countries. T he A m erican C onstitution atta ck Da N a n g port, m arking the
Destroyer steered by John P ercival stopped b eg in n in g o f th e F rench con q u est of
by Da N ang bay to buy food and d rinking V ietn am by force. T he N g u y en d y n asty did
w ater on M ay 14th 1845 w h en th ey m et not m an age to fig h t a g a in s t th e invader.
local guards w ho w ere tracing for a French M an y m ajor a rea s w ere occupied by th e
priest. John Percival p rom u lgated to French. M any so lu tio n s w ere su g g ested to
attack the guards to rescu e th e p riest. T he sa v e th e situation» on e o f w hich w as to
m andarins a ssig n ed by th e d y n a sty to seek a ssista n c e from pow erful n ation s. The
solve the ca se w ere d etain ed a s h o sta g e s U S , w ith its a n ti-co lo n ia lism policy, w as
[4, p.47]. According to historical docum ents, co n sid ered to be a n a tio n th a t could help
the even t happened in 1844 and th e two V ietn am th en . T h e N g u y en d yn asty sen t
m andarins w ere d iplom ats N g u y en Long Bui V ien to th e u s in 1873 to ask for help.
and Viceroy N guyen D ang G iai [1, volu m e B ui V ien first w e n t to th e u s co n su la te in
25, p. 282]. A fter th at, the relation
H ong K ong and th ere h e w a s w elcom ed by
betw een th e N gu yen d yn asty and A m erica
th e r ep re se n ta tiv e o f th e u s . M aking u se
becam e in ten siv e. P resid en t Zachary
o f th is a d v a n ta g e, Bui V ien w en t stra ig h t
Taylor im m ed iately sen t B a sle stie r a s
to Y okoham a th en to A m erica. T h an k s to
special Envoy to deal w ith th e ca se and to
m an y frie n d s’ h elp , h e w a s able to m eet
H ow ever, th e d ifferen ces in cu ltu re and The b ig g est h istorical lesso n which can
cu stom s w ere a big b arrier p rev en tin g the be draw n from the first con tacts betw een
relation sh ip w ith th e u s and V ietn am V ietnam and th e u s is to g iv e first priority
from d eveloping. D esp ite th e fact th a t the to m utual u n d ersta n d in g and to patiently
U S had m ade co n sid era b le efforts in find solu tion s to th e d isa g reem en ts and
e sta b lish in g th e rela tio n sh ip , it lacked m isu n d erstan d in gs. U n til th is day, th is
u n d ersta n d in g and p a tien ce w hich w ere o f h istorical lesso n still rem a in s valid.
REFERENCES