In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt chose Portsmouth, New Hampshire to be the site of negotiations between Russian and Japanese delegations to end the Russo-Japanese War, now known as “World War Zero” and fought to determine which nation would have the greater influence over Korea and Manchuria.

 

Roosevelt never came to Portsmouth but won the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize for orchestrating what is now known as multi-track diplomacy that included other world powers, the Russian and Japanese delegations, the US Navy for security and protocol, and New Hampshire hosts in the thirty days of negotiations that resulted in the Portsmouth Peace Treaty. 

 

In 1905 an uncommon commitment to peace became a common virtue as the citizens of Portsmouth provided an atmosphere for peace that ultimately led to the signing of the Treaty on September 5, 1905, a day commemorated each year by Proclamation of the Governor.

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There are many memorials to the Portsmouth Peace Treaty and its citizen diplomats and to other examples of Portsmouth citizen diplomacy:

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City Historic Marker: Treaty of Portsmouth (15 Pleasant Street)

City Historic Marker: Portsmouth-Nichinan Sister City Cherry Trees

Plaque: Judge Calvin Page (Page, as executor of Frank Jones' will arranged for much of the hospitality provided to welcome the diplomats to Portsmouth, including complimentary accommodations at Wentworth by the Sea Hotel.

Portsmouth Peace Treaty Living Memorial Cherry Trees, planted at key sites in the Treaty negotiations and at Portsmouth Public Schools and city offices.

1713 Treaty of Portsmouth, signed at The Castle, now Fort Constitution.

Edmund Roberts Memorial Stained Glass Window at St. John's Church.

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Portsmouth's Edmund Roberts and Daniel Webster

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Edmund Roberts, appointed by President Andrew Jackson as the United States' first envoy to the Far East, went on the USS Peacock on two consecutive non-resident diplomatic missions to the courts of Cochinchina, Thailand ("Siam") and Muscat and Oman during the years 1832–6. Born in  Portsmouth in 1784 Roberts put to sea in 1800, eventually residing in London until age 24. Returning in 1808, he married Miss Catherine Whipple Langdon — daughter of Judge Woodbury Langdon and niece of Governor John Langdon , both of whom were engaged in the New England triangular trade between Portsmouth, the Caribbean and London.

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In January 1832 Roberts’ friend US Sen Levi Woodbury, who as senator had been pressing for increased naval appropriations when he received a letter from Roberts on the need for trade negotiations, had just become Jackson's Secretary of the Navy and saw an opportunity. Woodbury convinced Jackson to send both 10-gun ships to support Potomac – with Roberts as Jackson's "special agent". 1834-36: Roberts concluded treaties with Thailand[3] and Said bin Sultan, Sultan of Muscat and Oman, ratified in Washington, D.C. 30 June 1834. He returned in 1836 to exchange ratifications with Oman and Thailand and to the court of Minh Mạng in Cochinchina for a second attempt at negotiation.[5] He fell seriously ill with dysentery and died in Portuguese Macau, which precluded his becoming America's first envoy to Edo Japan.

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In May 1851:  American Secretary of State Daniel Webster authorized Commodore John H. Aulick, commander of the East India Squadron, to attempt to return seventeen shipwrecked Japanese then in San Francisco, which might provide the opportunity for opening commercial relations with Japan. On May 10, 1851, Webster drafted a letter addressed to the “Japanese Emperor” with assurances that the expedition had no religious purpose, but was only to request “friendship and commerce” and supplies of coal needed by ships enroute to China. The letter also boasted of American expansion across the North American continent and its technical prowess, and was signed by President Fillmore. However, Aulick became involved in a diplomatic row with a Brazilian diplomat and quarrels with the captain of his flagship, and was relieved of his command before he could undertake the Japan expedition.

 

In Oct 1852 Aulick’s replacement, Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry demanded greater latitude in his orders from Webster, a demand the Secretary of State granted just before his death in October 1852. Perry thus sailed for Japan with "full and discretionary powers," including possible use of force.

 

July 1853 Perry finally reached Uraga at the entrance to Edo Bay in Japan on 8 July 1853. On 11 July, senior rōjū Abe Masahiro temporized, deciding that simply accepting a letter from the Americans would not constitute a violation of Japanese sovereignty. The decision was conveyed to Uraga, and Perry was asked to move his fleet slightly southwest to the beach at Kurihama (in modern-day Yokosuka), where he was allowed to land on 14 July. Perry went ashore with considerable pomp, landing with 250 sailors and Marines in 15 ships’s boats after a 13-gun salute from Susquehanna. Major Zuilin’s Marines presented arms, and a band played Hail Columbia. President Fillmore’s letter was formally received by hatamoto Toda "Izu-no-kami" Ujiyoshi and by Ido "Iwami-no-kami" Hiromichi. Perry's squadron eventually departed Tokyo Bay on 17 July for the Chinese coast, promising to return for a reply.

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