They completely lacked honesty so they often tried to play tricks on us a n d were experts on fin d in g tricks to hide their responsibilities.. A ll serious business affairs were, in t
Trang 1VNU JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, s o c , SCI HUMAN N03E, 2004
THE BEGINNING OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETW EEN AMERICA
AND VIETNAM: HISTORICAL LESSON S
A m erica is a pow erful n ation w h ose
p o ten tia ls and in ter n a tio n a l in flu en ce are
so great th a t every country, in its policy
m aking process, h a s to ta k e A m erica and
its rela tio n sh ip w ith A m erica a s a factor
into con sid eration U n d er th e current
rapid and h ig h ly in te n siv e b u t ex trem ely
complex internationalization and globalization,
there e x ists an id ea th a t th ere is a dan ger
o f id en tify in g G lobalization w ith
A m ericanization T h is poses a serio u s
problem to u s - sch olars in E a st A sia , a
region w ith d ifferen t cu ltu ra l tra d itio n s
from o th ers - to th in k over and exch an ge
id ea s to find o u t th e b e st so lu tio n s th a t can
both cope w ith th e com m on trend and
bring into play th e a d v a n ta g e s o f the
trad itional cu ltu ral v a lu es L ooking back
ovei' th e first co n tacts b etw een A m erica
and V ietn am is not on ly m ean in gfu l to
h isto ria n s but also u sefu l to th e cu rrent as
w ell a s th e future kn ow led ge In th is
article, an a ttem p t is m ade to look
objectively at th e n a tu re of th e first
con tacts b etw een V ietn a m and A m erica so
as to draw som e h isto rica l lesso n s
H opefully, w h a t w ill be d iscu ssed below
w ill, more or less, a s s is t our th o u g h ts in
the current com p lex ch a n g in g world.
Vietnam and America
According to th e e x ta n t d ocu m en ts in
Am erica, in J u ly 1787, T h o m a s Jefferson ,
then rep resen ta tiv e o f th e U n ited S ta te s of
A m erica in F rance w rote a letter to h is
n Prof.Dr.Sc., Vietnam National University Hanoi.
V u M in h Giang**’
n ative country, in w hich h e exp ressed a
sp ecial concern about th e inform ation given by P ierre Poivre about agriculture in
th e S ou th o f V ietn a m He ask ed a son of
N gu yen A nh (w ho la ter b ecam e K ing Gia Long), Prince C anh , w h o w a s in France
th en to g et h im 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 a m o f th e A m ericans.
In 1801 T h o m a s J efferso n w a s elected
th e third p resid en t of th e U n ited S ta tes of
A m erica It h a s rem ain ed a w onder w hy a year after J efferso n w as in power, a com m ercial sh ip n am ed Frame captained
by J erem ia h B rigg w a s s e n t to V ietn am to collect in form ation and stu d y sugar and coffee su p p ly in g so u rces for th e Am erican
m arket.
T he Frame lan d ed Da N a n g port on May 2 1 8t 1803 H ere C aptain B rigg m et
tw o w a rsh ip s of th e N g u y e n d y n a sty ’s navy conducted by th e French T hey advised
B rigg to go to H u e to have a formal
in terv iew w ith K ing G ia Long H ow ever,
th e A m erican c a p ta in th en w a s arranged
to m eet w ith th e rep re se n ta tiv e of the
N g u y en d y n a sty , a few clergym en , and French n a v y ’s officers w ho w ere under
K ing Gia Long A fter ob tain in g som e
in form ation , th e Fram e left V ietn am 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 h is ev en t is m en tio n ed in th e V ietn am ese historical d o cu m en ts [1, V 3, p p l3 4 t 193].
It w as not u n til 16 y e a r s la ter th a t the second A m erican sh ip arrived in V ietnam
14
Trang 2The beginning of the relationship between America and Vietnam: historical lessons 15
It w a s the F ranklin conducted by C aptain
J oh n W hite T he S h ip arrived in V ung Tau
port on J a n u a ry F* 1819 J W hite had a
m eetin g w ith local officials and th ey
prom ised to issu e him p erm its to en ter
S aigon Y et th e ca p tain w a ited w ith ou t
rep lies A local official said th a t foreign
sh ip s n eed ed p erm ission from th e d y n a sty
to en ter Saigon T hus, J W hite m ade a
d ecision to go to H ue to h ave a direct
form al talk w ith th e K ing U n fo rtu n a tely ,
K ing Gia Long w a s th en on holiday in the
n orthern part o f V ietn am (Bac Ha) so J
W h ite’s plan w a s not su ccessfu l The
ca p ta in decided to lea v e for M anila w ith
th e hope to find an in terp reter then
retu rn ed to V ietn am
A fter th e arrival of th e Franklin, there
w ere th ree m ore A m erican sh ip s (the
M armion, the Aurora an d th e Beverly) to
call a t V ung Tau and Da N a n g ports, yet
n on e of them m an aged to a ch iev e th eir
trad e aim s T h ese sh ip s on e a fter an oth er
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 B row n to togeth er
ste e r th e M arm ion back to V ietn am The
tw o A m erican sh ip s arrived in V ung Tau
port on September 25th 1819 This time J
W hite w a s given p erm its to en ter Saigon
A fter co llectin g so m e goods, m ost o f w hich
w ere su g a r and raw silk , th e tw o sh ip s left
S aig o n port on J a n u a ry 3 0 th 1820 J W hite
arrived in S alem on A u g u st 3 0 th 1820,
a fter a tw en ty -m o n th voyage.
J W hite w rote a book en title d A
Voyage to Cochin China p ublished in
B oston in 1823 T he book had a great
in flu en ce on th e a ttitu d e s o f A m ericans,
p articu larly th o se o f th e A m erican
b u sin e ssm en tow ards V ietn am A part from
th e vivid and d etailed d escrip tio n s w hich
are of d ocu m en tal v a lu e ab ou t various
a sp e cts o f life, w hich h elp ed read ers have
part o f th e p ictu re o f V ietn am and its people in ea rly 19,h cen tu ry, J W hite provided som e co m m en ts th at discouraged
A m ericans w ho had in ten tio n s to seek for
b u sin e ss o p p o rtu n ities in th is distant, land.
J W hite appraised: “D uring the tim e I was in this country, all th a t I learnt about
it were villainy a n d turpitude They completely lacked honesty so they often tried to play tricks on us a n d were experts
on fin d in g tricks to hide their responsibilities They can easily get all these w ith 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 businessm en who get them annoyed for money Apart from these, the authorities greediness, shiftiness, cruelty, a n d anti-com m ercial character should drive this la n d to be the least attractive place, even for the most adventurous b u sin essm en ” [3].
A fterw ards, a French w ho read the book su g g e ste d th a t J W hite judged the local people w ith th e view o f a Rigid
P u ritan and n ev er ask ed h im se lf how he had b eh aved to them
2 Diplomatic Efforts to Set up Trade Relation
It is lik e ly th a t in th e ea rly d ays the concern o f th e A m erican s about V ietn am
w a s grea ter th a n th a t o f N g u yen d ynasty about them U n d er th e Gia Long regim e (1802*1820), th e d y n a sty had m any rela tio n s w ith th e W est, esp ecia lly with
F rance so th e p resen ce o f th e Am erican
sh ip s had not draw n a tten tio n so far
M oreover, th e lack o f local cu sto m s m ade
th e A m erican s su sp e ct o f th e local people and a u th o ritie s.
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Trang 316 Vu Minh Giang
A lth ou gh B rigg an d J W h ite’s m issio n
in in v e s tig a tin g th e p o s sib ilitie s o f
e sta b lish in g tra d e r e la tio n s w ith V ietn a m
m ig h t be co n sid ered a fa ilu r e, th e u s
re p r e se n ta tiv e a g en cy in B a ta v ia had a
different view In 1826, the American
E nvoy J o h n S h illa b e r s e n t a le tte r to th e
n a tiv e co u n try to recom m en d g rea ter
ex p a n sio n o f th e a c tiv itie s o f tra d e s h ip s in
A tla n tic co u n tries, w hich in clu d ed C ochin
C hina (th e S o u th o f V ietn a m ) J W h ite
s e n t a n u m b er o f le tte r s p e rsu a d in g th e by
th en A m erican P r e sid e n t to d e le g a te h im
pow ers in n e g o tia tin g tra d e a g r e e m e n ts
T he efforts m ad e by th e E nvoy w ere
su c cessfu l a fter A n d rew J a ck so n w a s
elected p re sid en t o f th e U n ite d S ta te s in
1929 A d ele g a tio n led by E dm und
R oberts, w hich w a s d irectly s e n t by th e
P resid en t, b ro u g h t th e tra d e a g r e e m e n t
across th e In d ia n O cean to V ietn a m to sig n
w ith th e N g u y e n d y n a sty T h e w a rsh ip
P eacock carried th e d e le g a tio n to V u n g
Lam (a p lace in P h u Y en) a t th e b e g in n in g
o f J a n u a ry 1832 R e p r e s e n ta tiv e s o f th e
local a u th o r itie s w e n t up to th e sh ip and
a sk ed ca refu lly a b o u t th e A m eric a n s’
in ten tio n A fter a te n -d a y ’s w a itin g , on
J a n u a ry 17th, th e d y n a sty s e n t tw o
m a n d a rin s and an e sc o r t th e r e to n e g o tia te
w ith E dm und R oberts, y e t a fter m a n y d a y s
o f d iscu ssio n it w a s s till im p o ssib le for
both s id e s to sig n th e a g r e e m e n t E dm und
R oberts a ssu m e d th a t th e N g u y e n d y n a sty
w a s fu lly resp o n sib le for th e fa ilu re
A ccording to h im , th e d ip lo m a tic
p roced u res w ere far too co m p lica ted
B esid es, se n io r o fficia ls o f th e d y n a sty did
n ot h a v e clear id e a s and u s u a lly ev a d ed
d irect q u e stio n s from th e A m erican
partner T he V ie tn a m e s e o fficia ls th e n
w ere too h e s ita n t an d c a u tio u s and a lw a y s
sh ow ed th eir su sp icio n T h e m ajor rea so n
for th e d isa g r e e m e n t o f th e N g u y e n
d y n a sty w a s, at la st, th e d o cu m en ta ry
problem s T h ey sa id th a t th e w ord s in th e
proposal did not com ply w ith th e e s s e n tia l
fo rm u la s o f v en era tio n tow ard s th e K ing of
V ietn a m T h ey ev en q u estio n ed th e
p a rtn er an d after b ein g ex p la in ed th a t th e
U S P r e sid e n t w a s th e one w ho w a s elected
by the people, they concluded that the
A m erican P r e sid e n t w a s not on th e sam e rank or h iera rch y w ith th e V ie tn a m e se
K ing [2 ]
H isto ry h a s sh o w n u s th a t th e tw o
m a n d a rin s s e n t by th e N g u y en d y n a sty to
n e g o tia te w ith E dm und R oberts w ere
N g u y e n Tri P h u on g and Ly V an Phuc
A fter lis te n in g to th e proposal and th e
cr e d e n tia l from th e u s P re sid en t, th ey
co n sid ered it in ap p rop riate th en , and
w ith o u t s u b m ittin g to th e K ing, th ey rep lied th a t th e V ie tn a m e se K ing would not p roh ib it th e tra d in g a c tiv itie s u n le ss
th e s e ob eyed th e d efined law of th e cou n try So th e A m erican sh ip s had to
an ch or a t Tra Son bay (Da N ang) and w ere
n ot a llo w ed to b u ild h o u ses on land
E d m u n d s d eleg a tio n le ft V ietn am after rec eiv in g th e n ote [1, vo lu m e 11, p 231].
A ccording to th e le tte r o f Josep h
B a sle stie r , th e A m erican E nvoy to
S in g a p o re to F orsyth, th e secreta ry at th e
P r e sid e n t’s office provided d ifferen t
in form ation A ccording to th e n ew s source
w h ich J o sep h B a s le s tie r con sid ered
r elia b le, th e reason for th e A m erican
fa ilu re in sig n in g th e trad e a g ree m en t
w ith V ie tn a m w a s th a t th e le tte r w a s sen t
to th e K in g too late A fter receiv in g th e
le tte r, K in g M inh M an g in v ite d th e
d e le g a tio n an d th e crew o f th e Peacock to
H u e b u t by th e tim e th e le tte r arrived at
th e port, E dm und R oberts’ sh ip had
a lrea d y left.
P erh a p s J o sep h B a sle stie r th o u g h t h is
a s s e s s m e n t w a s rig h t so a s soon a s he w as
a p p o in ted th e Envoy to S in g a p o re, h e tried
to p e rsu a d e th e P re sid e n t to co n tin u e the
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Trang 4The beginning o f Che relationship between America and Vietnam: historical lessons 17
n egotiation to sig n th e trade a g re e m en t
w ith V ietnam Edm und R oberts a g a in w a s
assign ed w ith th e m ission E dm und
R oberts’s d eleg a tio n arrived in Tra Son
bay on M ay 15,h 1836 A gain trouble
happened Soon after arrivin g in V ietn a m ,
Edm und R oberts w as serio u sly ill so w h en
the rep resen ta tiv e of th e N g u y en d y n a sty
arrived he w a s not ab le to receiv e th em
T he N guyen d y n a sty ’s officials con sid ered
it an offense On th e o th er h an d, th e
Am erican d eleg a tio n a sk ed th e p a rtn er to
reply to P resid en t A ndrew J a ck so n w ith in
three days b u t th e H u e d y n a sty cou ld not
m anage it a s good in terp re ters w ere a w ay
on business.
The r esu lt of th e second n eg o tia tio n
w a s the sa m e a s th e first one T h e trad e
agreem en t rem a in ed u n sig n ed
3 T h e C o n s titu tio n D e s tro y e r E v e n t
W hile th e A m erican E n voy to
Singapore J o sep h B a sle stie r w a s fin d in g
solu tion s to th e problem s o f sig n in g th e
trade a g reem en t w ith th e N g u y en d y n a sty ,
a regretful e v e n t h ap p en ed w h ich stro n g ly
affected th e rela tio n b etw een th e tw o
countries T he A m erican C onstitution
Destroyer steered by Joh n P erciv a l stopped
by Da N a n g bay to bu y food and d rin k in g
w ater on M ay 14th 1845 w h e n th e y m et
local guards w ho w ere tracing for a French
priest John Percival p ro m u lg a ted to
attack th e gu ard s to rescu e th e p riest T he
m andarins a ssig n e d by th e d y n a sty to
solve th e c a se w ere d eta in ed a s h o sta g e s
[4, p.47] According to historical docum ents,
th e ev en t h ap p en ed in 1844 and th e tw o
m andarins w ere d ip lom ats N g u y e n Long
and Viceroy N g u y en D an g G iai [1, v o lu m e
25, p 282] A fter th at, th e rela tio n
b etw een th e N g u y en d y n a sty and A m erica
becam e in te n siv e P re sid en t Z achary
T aylor im m ed ia tely se n t B a s le s tie r a s
special E nvoy to d eal w ith th e c a se and to
prom ote n eg o tia tio n for s ig n in g th e trade
a g ree m e n t B a s le s t ie r s d e leg a tio n arrived
in Da N a n g on M arch 13th 1850 T he person in ch a rg ed o f re ceiv in g th e
d eleg a tio n w a s Q u a n g N a m ’s provincial
mandarin According to Baslestier s report,
th e V ie tn a m e s e m a n d a rin refu sed to receiv e th e A m erica n P r e sid e n t’s le tte r a s
th e P re sid en t a llo w e d h is n avy to kill
V ie tn a m e s e p eo p le rig h t in V ietn a m e se land B a s le s tie r w a rn ed th e m an d arin th a t
h is refu sa l to r ec eiv e th e le tte r w ould be
an o ffen ce to th e u s P r e sid e n t, yet h e k ep t
h is a ttitu d e u n ch a n g e d T h e ta lk la sted for
th ree h ou rs B a s le s tie r w a ited for th ree
m ore d a y s to s e e if h is p a rtn er w ould show
a n y com m otion , b u t n o th in g h ap p en ed
T he A m erican d e le g a tio n le ft Da N a n g for
T h a ila n d on M arch 16th [5] V ie tn a m e se
h isto ric a l d o cu m en ts d escrib e th e v is it by
B a s le s tie r s d ele g a tio n a s a kind of
e x p r e ssin g a p o lo g y for w h a t th e A m erican
w a rsh ip h a d d on e fiv e y e a r s before S in ce
th is e v e n t, th e r e had b een a lm o st no official A m erica n d e le g a tio n s to V ietn a m
4 B u i V i e n ’s V i s i t t o A m e r ic a
In 1858, F rench n a v y o p en ed fire to
a tta ck Da N a n g port, m ark in g th e
b e g in n in g o f th e F ren ch co n q u est of
V ietn a m by force T h e N g u y e n d y n a sty did
n ot m a n a g e to fig h t a g a in s t th e invader
M a n y m ajor a r e a s w ere occu p ied by th e
F rench M any so lu tio n s w ere su g g e ste d to
sa v e th e situ ation » o n e o f w h ich w a s to
se e k a s s is ta n c e from p ow erfu l n a tio n s The
U S , w ith it s a n ti-c o lo n ia lism policy, w a s
co n sid ered to be a n a tio n th a t could help
V ietn a m th en T h e N g u y e n d y n a sty sen t
B ui V ien to th e u s in 1 873 to a sk for help
B u i V ien fir st w e n t to th e u s co n su la te in
H on g K ong and th e r e h e w a s w elcom ed by
th e r e p r e se n ta tiv e o f th e u s M ak in g u se
o f th is a d v a n ta g e , B ui V ie n w e n t str a ig h t
to Y okoh am a th en to A m erica T h a n k s to
m a n y fr ie n d s’ h elp , h e w a s a b le to m eet
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P re sid en t S im p so n G rant T he P re sid en t
su p p orted V ietn a m 's fig h t a g a in s t
co lo n ia lism , y e t h e could n o t p rom ise
a n y th in g a s B ui V ien d id not b rin g w ith
him an official cre d e n tia l th e n B ui V ien
decided to re tu rn to V ietnam to ask for the
cre d en tia l, b u t th en w e k n ew th e u s
g o v ern m en t had c h a n g ed th e ir view C lose
rela tio n sh ip w ith th e F ren ch w ou ld bring
more b en efits to th e u s , w h ich m ea n t th a t
th e y could not a s s is t V ietn a m to fig h t
a g a in s t French c o lo n ia lism
5 Historical Lessons
It can be in ferred from th e above-
m en tion ed 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 o sitiv e b eg in n in g , s ta r tin g w ith T h o m a s
J effer so n ’s in te r e st in V ietn a m , th e land
th a t before th a t had b een a lm o st u n k n o w n
to th e A m erican T he u s g o v er n m en t th en ,
b ein g a ttra cted by th e trad e p o te n tia l in
C ochin C hina and th ro u g h th e a c tiv itie s o f
th e U S ’s em b a ssy in S in g a p o re, had a ctiv e
step s in e s ta b lis h in g tra d e r ela tio n w ith
V ietn am
H ow ever, th e d iffere n c e s in cu ltu re and
cu sto m s w ere a b ig b a rrier p rev e n tin g th e
re la tio n sh ip w ith th e u s an d V ietn a m
from d ev elo p in g D e sp ite th e fact th a t th e
U S had m ad e co n sid e ra b le effo rts in
e s ta b lis h in g th e r e la tio n sh ip , it lacked
u n d e rsta n d in g and p a tie n c e w h ich w ere o f
n ecessity in n eg o tia tin g w ith th e N guyen
d ynasty The e v e n t of th e Destroyer Constitution a tta ck in g th e N guyen
d y n a sty ’s gu ard s and d eta in in g the governors as h o sta g es m ade th e d y n a sty ’s
tru st in the Americans, which was very
little, becom e ev en less.
On th e part o f th e N g u y e n d yn asty, the
u n d e rsta n d in g about th e u s w a s alm ost
n oth in g u n til th e F rench attack ed Da
N an g (1858) T he K in gs often considered
th e m se lv e s civ ilized p eop le and the
A m erican sa v a g e on es T h ey even did not show in te r e st in th eir proposals- The
m an d arin s often th o u g h t o f th e A m ericans
a s "cunning, m a ch ia v e llia n ” so their reaction w a s very c a u tio u s.
U nd er d ifficu lties b ecau se of
co n tin u ou s lo sse s in fig h tin g a g a in st the French colonialism » th e N g u y e n dynasty grad u ally took on m ore practical view s,
th ey ev en w a n ted to se e k a ssista n c e from the U S, but th e p o ssib ility of esta b lish in g
a friend ly relation b etw een th e two
co u n tries had alread y gone.
T he b ig g est h istorical le sso n w hich can
be draw n from th e first co n ta cts b etw een
V ietn am and th e u s is to g iv e first priority
to m u tual u n d e r sta n d in g an d to patien tly find so lu tio n s to th e d isa g r eem e n ts and
m isu n d ersta n d in g s U n til th is day, th is
h istorical lesso n still r e m a in s valid.
R E F E R E N C E S
1 Đ ợ i N a m t h ự c h à n h c h i n h b iê n , K h o a h ọ c Publishing House, 1963
2 Edmund Roberts, E m b a ssy to the Eastern Courts o f Cochin China New York, 1837, p.5.
3 John White, A Voyage to Cochin China, Oxford University Press, 1972, p.247
4 Robert Hopkins Miller, The United States a n d Vietnam 1787-1941> National Defense University Press,
Washington DC 1990, p.3.
5 Senate Documents 32n,i Congress. V ol.7 Doc 18, (Report o f Joseph Balesticr to Secretary o f 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 , 2()(N