Millard Fillmore

Millard Fillmore succeeded Zachary Taylor in July 1850 and served until 1853. A New York lawyer and Whig politician, he had held seats in Congress and served as state comptroller before becoming vice president. His presidency coincided with a sectional struggle over slavery and an expanding American commercial interest in the Pacific. ¹

Fillmore authorized Commodore Matthew Perry’s expedition to Japan, seeking ports where American ships could obtain supplies and assistance for shipwrecked sailors. Perry sailed during Fillmore’s administration and arrived in Japan in 1853; the Treaty of Kanagawa followed under Franklin Pierce in 1854. Naval pressure was central to the initiative. The expedition connected the growth of American Pacific shipping with an effort to change Japan’s restrictions on foreign access. ²

Elsewhere, Fillmore resisted unauthorized expeditions against Spanish Cuba and opposed European attempts to dominate Hawaii. He also maintained a cautious response to European revolutionary causes, even as Hungarian leader Lajos Kossuth attracted enthusiastic audiences in the United States. His policy sought opportunities for American commerce without committing the country to military intervention in Europe. ²

Fillmore signed the Compromise of 1850, including California’s admission as a free state and a strengthened Fugitive Slave Act. Federal enforcement of that law compelled assistance in the capture of people who had escaped slavery and intensified northern resistance. The settlement postponed a rupture but failed to remove the sectional conflict. Rejected for the Whig nomination in 1852, Fillmore later ran for president as the American Party candidate in 1856. ^{3, 1}