HIST104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Millard Fillmore, Tokyo Bay, Edo Period
13 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Looking at Japan, which in some ways experienced similar difficulties to those
faced by china - how would you compare them at this time?? **final
•
•
In the long run, Japan dealt more successfully than any other country in the
world with the challenge posed by the industrial powers of the west, with
consequences that were very relevant
•
Tokugawa
○
Military government was refined under the Tokugawa regime (remember
this from an old lecture?)
○
The tokugawa period in japan was peaceful and productive in the 17 and
18th century
○
Daimyo kept strictly under control so they wouldn’t threaten order
○
Controlled the degree of foreign influence on japan - tokugawa regime
expelled all foreigners from japan (except for a small amount of Dutch
and Chinese)
○
Japanese people forbidden to go abroad without permission
•
Japan wasn’t as isolated as it tried to be - there was a black market in foreign
goods, and information about the west continued to come in via the Dutch in
Nagasaki
○
Curiosity about the west
•
Though some information about the west came though, generally there was a
situation like the one in China where foreign traders were restricted to one port
•
Tokugawa regime continued reasonably successful for a while, but in the early
19th century they experienced some difficulties
○
Ex 1830s - severe drought for 3 years that contributed to a famine that
killed thousands of peasants
○
Govt badly handled famine relief
○
Made worse by merchants who hoarded rice
○
Increased opposition to the Tokugawa rule
§
Also started losing support of the samurai
□
More and more daimyo started releasing samurai from their
oaths of loyalty so that they didn’t have to pay them
□
Led to a large number of samurai with no masters (Ronin =
master less samurai)
®Ronin started increasing in numbers for these reasons
in the early 19th century
®They were an unpredictable group - sometimes carried
out acts of political violence
• For all these reasons, different groups in Japan were becoming dissatisfied with
the Tokugawa regime in the early 19th century
○At first these opposition groups weren't united - eventually drawn
together by the threat of western invasion
○Tokugawa govt realized the spread of western invasion was coming and
had to change their policies
§US became responsible for opening up Japan to the West
• Edo Bay, 1853
○In 1853 6 american ships sailed into Edo Bay - Edo was the Shogun's
capital
§This american fleet was led by Commodore Matthew Perry
§Perry asked to be able to land to deliver a message from the
President Millard Fillmore to the Japanese government
§In the meantime Perry's ships went around the harbor doing
artillery practice to show off their guns
□ The japanese had already heard about steam ships and naval
guns and knew they were no match for the japanese
§Peaceful visit, but saying don’t mess around
§Allowed him to land and deliver his message which asked for:
□ The right for american ships to take on provisions and
supplies in Japanese ports
□ The right for Americans to trade with Japan
§This threw the Tokugawa government into turmoil - didn’t want to
be dictated to by foreigners
□ The government didn’t want to get involved in an uneven
battle
□ Signed an agreement granting requests
• As time went on, America asked for more things
○Resulted in Treaty of Amity and Commerce, 1858
§Was very similar to the treaty of Nanjing
○Passed on terms that were favorable to the Americans and american
trade (ex low tax for american imports, Americans able to live in japan
under american law rather than japanese law)
○After this treaty, all the other major western powers passed similar
unequal treaties with japan
• These unequal treaties created serious opposition to the Tokugawa Regime
among the Japanese people - seen as dishonorable and humiliating
○Some of the powerful daimyo felt as though the Tokugawa regime needed
to be replaced by a national government that would protect Japan's
honor better
○Opposition movement to the tokugawa began to rally around the
emperor
§Argued that the emperor, not the shogun, embodied japanese
honor and that the emperor should be restored to a position of real
power
○In the 1860s japan entered a period of political crisis
§Samurai attacks on foreigners
□ Carried out mostly by Ronin
§Tokugawa regime would not punish these people who attacked
§Western powers responded by bombarding japanese fortresses on
the coast to make their point that they were stronger than the
japanese
§Japanese opposition to the shogun grew
• By 1866 there was virtually civil war in Japan
○The driving force to topple the tokugawa regime came from Choshu and
Satsuma
• Tokugawa regime finally defeated and overthrown - surrendered in 1868
○Emperor was restored to power
○Overthrow of the Shogun known as the Meiji Restoration
○Emperor Meiji ("enlightened rule") 1868-1912
○Begins the Meiji period
§Very important period in Japanese history
§Edo renamed Tokyo in 1868
§The new Meiji government had 2 objectives:
□ Strengthen japan to keep it independent and prevent it from
being taken over by western powers
□ Get rid of the unequal treaties that japan had signed with the
western powers
§Meiji rulers realized japan would need to make changes to carry out
these objectives
□ To help strengthen japan, the Meiji rulers declared they
would seek out useful knowledge in different parts of the
world
®Went to western europe and america to study
economics, politics, etc
®Decided they needed to make changes in 3 main areas:
◊Government
◊Military
◊Economy
□ First, they took apart the old tokugawa system of government
®Replaced the feudal lords (daimyos), and instead
appointed district administrators called prefects to
oversee the districts
□ Then they wanted to modernize the army
®Abolished the samurai class, enabled a conscripted
army
◊Every able bodied japanese man had to do a
period of service
®Samurai were not pleased, some rebelled
◊Riots, but they were easily suppressed
□ Understood the strength of western economy
◊Largely paid for by Japan's peasants - agriculture
heavily taxed
◊Ex railroads and telegraphs financed
®Need to build an industry based economy using
government funds - didn’t want to borrow from abroad
®Yen introduced as standard japanese currency
®Encouraged the development of transport and
communication
• Encouragement of industry by Meiji government was very sucessful
○Protected japanese companies, and some became very powerful very
quickly
§Mitsubishi
□ Iwasaki Yataro (1835-1885)
®Former member of the samurai class
®Was originally a shipping company
®Saw it as a national duty to succeed in business
®Company got a good deal of protection from the gov't
□ One example of a company that became huge under the Meiji
○By 1900 the japanese economy was fully launched as an industrial power
and heavy industry was fully launched (ex blast furnaces)
○Had to import raw materials like coal because they didn’t have many
natural resources
○Able to avoid western domination
• Also used the west as a model for other reformation
○Wanted to refine their politics
§In the 1880s the emperor wanted to draw up a constitution for
Japan
□ Leaders travelled to the west to study their political systems
□ Took the conservative german model
§Meiji Constitution, 1889
□ Ensured the emperor had a lot of control
□ Emperor directly commanded military, directly named his
ministers
□ Also established a parliament called the DIET
□ Power basically held by the emperor and his ministers - the
parliament could advise, but had no say
○Education
§Western influence on Japan was kept in check
§By 1880s they decided the western influence on education went too
far - decided to build Meiji education on traditional moral education
and values
□ Emphasized Confucian ideas of respecting elders
• Meiji japan became a place where there were western influences, but they were
filtered though Japanese traditions
• So, Meiji government was very successful in meeting the challenge posed by
western supremacy
○By 1890, they wanted to revise the unequal treaties
§By revising them, they were getting the western powers to see
Japan as an equal
§Japan demonstrated its equality by becoming an imperialist power
itself
□ Ex defeated china in a war in 1895 - resulting in japan taking
over Taiwan and they gained more influence over Korea
□ Defeated russia in 1905 - first time a modern asian country
defeated a european one
§Japan gained increasing influence over manchuria
§By 1910 korea was fully part of the japanese empire
• By the beginning of the 20th century, japan was a serious force
Meiji Japan: Reform and the West
Saturday, May 12, 2018
12:40 PM
Looking at Japan, which in some ways experienced similar difficulties to those
faced by china - how would you compare them at this time?? **final
•
• In the long run, Japan dealt more successfully than any other country in the
world with the challenge posed by the industrial powers of the west, with
consequences that were very relevant
• Tokugawa
○Military government was refined under the Tokugawa regime (remember
this from an old lecture?)
○The tokugawa period in japan was peaceful and productive in the 17 and
18th century
○Daimyo kept strictly under control so they wouldn’t threaten order
○Controlled the degree of foreign influence on japan - tokugawa regime
expelled all foreigners from japan (except for a small amount of Dutch
and Chinese)
○Japanese people forbidden to go abroad without permission
• Japan wasn’t as isolated as it tried to be - there was a black market in foreign
goods, and information about the west continued to come in via the Dutch in
Nagasaki
○Curiosity about the west
• Though some information about the west came though, generally there was a
situation like the one in China where foreign traders were restricted to one port
• Tokugawa regime continued reasonably successful for a while, but in the early
19th century they experienced some difficulties
○Ex 1830s - severe drought for 3 years that contributed to a famine that
killed thousands of peasants
○Govt badly handled famine relief
○Made worse by merchants who hoarded rice
○Increased opposition to the Tokugawa rule
§Also started losing support of the samurai
□ More and more daimyo started releasing samurai from their
oaths of loyalty so that they didn’t have to pay them
□
Led to a large number of samurai with no masters (Ronin =
master less samurai)
®
Ronin started increasing in numbers for these reasons
in the early 19th century
®
They were an unpredictable group - sometimes carried
out acts of political violence
•
For all these reasons, different groups in Japan were becoming dissatisfied with
the Tokugawa regime in the early 19th century
○
At first these opposition groups weren't united - eventually drawn
together by the threat of western invasion
○
Tokugawa govt realized the spread of western invasion was coming and
had to change their policies
§
US became responsible for opening up Japan to the West
•
Edo Bay, 1853
○
In 1853 6 american ships sailed into Edo Bay - Edo was the Shogun's
capital
§
This american fleet was led by Commodore Matthew Perry
§
Perry asked to be able to land to deliver a message from the
President Millard Fillmore to the Japanese government
§
In the meantime Perry's ships went around the harbor doing
artillery practice to show off their guns
□
The japanese had already heard about steam ships and naval
guns and knew they were no match for the japanese
§
Peaceful visit, but saying don’t mess around
§
Allowed him to land and deliver his message which asked for:
□
The right for american ships to take on provisions and
supplies in Japanese ports
□
The right for Americans to trade with Japan
§
This threw the Tokugawa government into turmoil - didn’t want to
be dictated to by foreigners
□
The government didn’t want to get involved in an uneven
battle
□
Signed an agreement granting requests
•
As time went on, America asked for more things
○
Resulted in Treaty of Amity and Commerce, 1858
§
Was very similar to the treaty of Nanjing
○
Passed on terms that were favorable to the Americans and american
trade (ex low tax for american imports, Americans able to live in japan
under american law rather than japanese law)
○
After this treaty, all the other major western powers passed similar
unequal treaties with japan
• These unequal treaties created serious opposition to the Tokugawa Regime
among the Japanese people - seen as dishonorable and humiliating
○Some of the powerful daimyo felt as though the Tokugawa regime needed
to be replaced by a national government that would protect Japan's
honor better
○Opposition movement to the tokugawa began to rally around the
emperor
§Argued that the emperor, not the shogun, embodied japanese
honor and that the emperor should be restored to a position of real
power
○In the 1860s japan entered a period of political crisis
§Samurai attacks on foreigners
□ Carried out mostly by Ronin
§Tokugawa regime would not punish these people who attacked
§Western powers responded by bombarding japanese fortresses on
the coast to make their point that they were stronger than the
japanese
§Japanese opposition to the shogun grew
• By 1866 there was virtually civil war in Japan
○The driving force to topple the tokugawa regime came from Choshu and
Satsuma
• Tokugawa regime finally defeated and overthrown - surrendered in 1868
○Emperor was restored to power
○Overthrow of the Shogun known as the Meiji Restoration
○Emperor Meiji ("enlightened rule") 1868-1912
○Begins the Meiji period
§Very important period in Japanese history
§Edo renamed Tokyo in 1868
§The new Meiji government had 2 objectives:
□ Strengthen japan to keep it independent and prevent it from
being taken over by western powers
□ Get rid of the unequal treaties that japan had signed with the
western powers
§Meiji rulers realized japan would need to make changes to carry out
these objectives
□ To help strengthen japan, the Meiji rulers declared they
would seek out useful knowledge in different parts of the
world
®Went to western europe and america to study
economics, politics, etc
®Decided they needed to make changes in 3 main areas:
◊Government
◊Military
◊Economy
□ First, they took apart the old tokugawa system of government
®Replaced the feudal lords (daimyos), and instead
appointed district administrators called prefects to
oversee the districts
□ Then they wanted to modernize the army
®Abolished the samurai class, enabled a conscripted
army
◊Every able bodied japanese man had to do a
period of service
®Samurai were not pleased, some rebelled
◊Riots, but they were easily suppressed
□ Understood the strength of western economy
◊Largely paid for by Japan's peasants - agriculture
heavily taxed
◊Ex railroads and telegraphs financed
®Need to build an industry based economy using
government funds - didn’t want to borrow from abroad
®Yen introduced as standard japanese currency
®Encouraged the development of transport and
communication
• Encouragement of industry by Meiji government was very sucessful
○Protected japanese companies, and some became very powerful very
quickly
§Mitsubishi
□ Iwasaki Yataro (1835-1885)
®Former member of the samurai class
®Was originally a shipping company
®Saw it as a national duty to succeed in business
®Company got a good deal of protection from the gov't
□ One example of a company that became huge under the Meiji
○By 1900 the japanese economy was fully launched as an industrial power
and heavy industry was fully launched (ex blast furnaces)
○Had to import raw materials like coal because they didn’t have many
natural resources
○Able to avoid western domination
• Also used the west as a model for other reformation
○Wanted to refine their politics
§In the 1880s the emperor wanted to draw up a constitution for
Japan
□ Leaders travelled to the west to study their political systems
□ Took the conservative german model
§Meiji Constitution, 1889
□ Ensured the emperor had a lot of control
□ Emperor directly commanded military, directly named his
ministers
□ Also established a parliament called the DIET
□ Power basically held by the emperor and his ministers - the
parliament could advise, but had no say
○Education
§Western influence on Japan was kept in check
§By 1880s they decided the western influence on education went too
far - decided to build Meiji education on traditional moral education
and values
□ Emphasized Confucian ideas of respecting elders
• Meiji japan became a place where there were western influences, but they were
filtered though Japanese traditions
• So, Meiji government was very successful in meeting the challenge posed by
western supremacy
○By 1890, they wanted to revise the unequal treaties
§By revising them, they were getting the western powers to see
Japan as an equal
§Japan demonstrated its equality by becoming an imperialist power
itself
□ Ex defeated china in a war in 1895 - resulting in japan taking
over Taiwan and they gained more influence over Korea
□ Defeated russia in 1905 - first time a modern asian country
defeated a european one
§Japan gained increasing influence over manchuria
§By 1910 korea was fully part of the japanese empire
• By the beginning of the 20th century, japan was a serious force
Meiji Japan: Reform and the West
Saturday, May 12, 2018 12:40 PM
Document Summary
**final: in the long run, japan dealt more successfully than any other country in the world with the challenge posed by the industrial powers of the west, with consequences that were very relevant, tokugawa. Military government was refined under the tokugawa regime (remember this from an old lecture?) The tokugawa period in japan was peaceful and productive in the 17 and. Daimyo kept strictly under control so they wouldn"t threaten order. Controlled the degree of foreign influence on japan - tokugawa regime expelled all foreigners from japan (except for a small amount of dutch and chinese) Ex 1830s - severe drought for 3 years that contributed to a famine that killed thousands of peasants. Made worse by merchants who hoarded rice. Also started losing support of the samurai. More and more daimyo started releasing samurai from their oaths of loyalty so that they didn"t have to pay them. Led to a large number of samurai with no masters (ronin =
