S2-E25 - Searching for Black Gold in Taiwan

Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s two expeditions of 1852–1854 pried
open Japan. Less well known is that one of the American ships
visited Keelung in northeastern Taiwan to investigate the harbor
and its coal resources. And completely forgotten is another
American project, the North Pacific Exploring and Surveying
Expedition of 1853 to 1856, which saw two visits to Taiwan. At
that time, the United States was one of several Western powers
which had an eye on establishing a foothold on Formosa’s wild
East Coast. The mysterious region lay outside of Chinese control
and promised all sorts of possible utility, whether as a coaling
station or a penal colony. In today’s podcast we’re aboard the
John Hancock in the company of Lt. Alexander Habersham, who wrote
an account of the expedition.