Japan's New Meiji Government example essay topic

I. Introduction A. Overview events of the time period 1. Shogun period 2. Meiji period 3. Actions of Commodore Perry 4.

Sino and Russo Japanese war 5. Thesis Over time, and this is true in every country, faith fades and gives way to science and religion gives way to practicality. II. The Edo (Shogun) rule 1608-1868 A. The takeover 1. how they came into rule a. the battle of Sekigahara b. the expulsion of Christianity c. feudalism B. The beginning of the end 1. Political pressure a. Commodore Perry b. crushing debt c. civilian suspicions d. the coup coup de gras C. Commodore Perry 1. unfair treaty 2. how he landed 3.

Perry fooled into seeing a mere lord 4. final blood. Religious effects 1. Buddhism 2. Shintoism IV.

The Meiji restoration 1868 A. The new style 1. more open to western influence 2. Wanted to go to the West and see what it was like 3. problems starting up a. Satsuma rebellions b. mopping up the last little samurai outbreaks B. The government 1. freedom of religion / Christianity un-banned a. religious figures and traditional samurai lose power 2. Modern state end of feudalism 3. constitution 4. wanted new technology desperately a. railroads built b. army formed c. navy formed 5. Sino and Russo Japanese wars because of Japans new expansion C. Compare and contrast 1. Enclosed self supporting traditional-Modern expansionist 2.

Feudal vs. V. Sino (1894) and Russo (1904) Japanese wars A. Sino Japanese war 1. Control of Korea a. Japan wanted its resources as their own. b. guess what, so did China c. Like siblings fighting over a cute dog, they left it up to Korea. d. Korea did not decide e. representatives on both sides were killed, WAR f. of course no one listens to religious council and try to use words B. Russo Japanese war 1.

Control of Manchuria a. Both countries want control over Manchuria's resources. b. Russian government was weak but had a strong army. 2. Russian revolution a.

Russia was dangerously close to a revolution. b. The leaders thought that they could suppress it by winning. c. they lost VI. Conclusion A. restate thesis Over time, and this is true in every country, faith fades and gives way to science and religion gives way to practicality. B. review of reasons and causes of the fade of religion 1. Arrival of Christianity 2. Western influence 3. Fall out of power for religious class C. Conclusions 1.

Religion did fall victim to the new influences 2. New gov. = less privileges for religion and less decision making Religion Fades Near the middle of the 1800's Japan's government of over 200 years was crumbling. The shoguns were rapidly falling out of power and a rebellion was brewing that would bring about Japan's new Meiji government. The Meiji government was the breath of fresh air the economy needed. These two periods in the 19th century were the key factors in Japan becoming an "official" world power like the western powers of Europe and America, Japan was the first Asian world power, However whenever anyone decides to become more modern, religion takes a backseat, this is shown by the contrast of the Shogun's traditional rule, honoring religion and using it as a guide with the Meiji's bureaucratic, slightly imperialist government style. Religion went from being a Guide to an extra curricular activity.

In every country and government, religion slowly fades to practicality and faith to scientific fact. In Japan the Meiji period brought an end to feudalism The shogun government came into rule in the year 1600 after a victory at the battle of Sekigahara. The Shogun government was based on feudalism; this system put the religious leaders in a high rank. The shoguns suppressed Christianity and returned to the traditional religions of Shintoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.

Religion was a very valued and protected necessity. The ruling elite and religious classes protected each other, the ruling elite by making laws to keep other religions out of the country, and the religious by teaching followers to worship the emperor as a god. All Rulers lived like kings, in lavish "temples" Where they spent the country's money on Feasts and expensive ceremonies for religion. This parasitical drain of Japan's funds led to higher taxes and consequently, uprisings among the lower classes.

The shogun government was already in a fragile state in 1854 when Commodore Mathew Perry came. Perry entered leading four black American steamships into Tokyo bay. Advisors of the government officials, including religious leaders said that the allowance of Perry's entrance would cause great instability in the governments already weakened state. Once Perry was on shore representatives of the emperor bitterly greeted him and asked him why he was there. For the first few weeks Perry had to haggle with low representatives of the emperor, but Perry refused to speak with anyone but the emperor, It would have been completely unspeakable for such a low life-form to lay eyes upon the emperor so the representatives fooled him into believing that a mere Lord was the emperor.

Nevertheless he succeeded in making his one sided trading agreement with Japan which guaranteed the Americans basically anything they wanted in Japan for cheap, if the Japanese refused, America would squash them like a bug. The Japanese people saw this and realized how weak their government was, they felt the economic effects of having their coal and food and other goods stripped from them at dirt cheap or no price. The people saw the weakness of their government and began to realize that it was time for a change. Over the next 14 years the government deteriorated and the economy flushed down the drain. The government grew more arrogant and everyone was unhappy. All it took was two "angry mobs", The Satsuma and Cho shu clans to start a military coup that would be the Shogun's coup de gras.

All of Japan's traditions and the old style of government toppled like dominoes-Jansen. This victory finally handed power over to a new emperor Meiji and a small group of samurai and noblemen in the Meiji restoration. The new Meiji government's mission was to steal back the economy, Modernize Japan, and become an "official" world power. Once the Meiji government was stable and a system was set up, the government started its quest for power. At first it wanted to become a more modern government, so, unfortunately for the current religious leaders, it banned feudalism and opened the door for Christianity, tarnishing the traditions of the "classic" religions. The government had a rough start.

They had to suppress samurai uprisings while gaining influence and focusing on stabilizing itself. The Largest rebellion that the new government had to suppress was the Satsuma rebellion. The Satsuma rebellion was the last major uprising of the samurais. At this point you may have noticed that "Satsuma" is the name of one of the clans that had a hand in abolishing the old government, the clan rebelled because they were promised much power in the new government, but received very little. After the Meiji government was stable, its first act was to establish a constitution to make it official. This constitution was detrimental to religion in Japan; it officially made freedom of religion legal and allowed Christianity to return to the country, and allowed for western trade which consequently made Japan a mixing pot of religions.

Religion felt the effects of modernization, Religious leaders could not have a say in the government, and the new religions stole loyal followers away from the classic religions. Religion faded into the background and became an extra curricular activity. However other classes benefited from this, the restoration paved the way for the industrial revolution to finally touch Japan, and its economy experienced a boom. The Meiji government was stable by 1894. Japanese merchants who had been experiencing a boom for almost 40 years were still booming.

Japan watched herself grow into a powerful nation, and realized that she could no longer contain herself -Reischauer. The leaders now looked to the west to find new territory to expand to, and they saw Korea, rich in natural resources. China was also looking at reclaiming Korea which used to be part of it at the same time. Negotiations between China and Japan went sour in 1894 when Japanese and Chinese officials were assassinated.

War was officially declared on August 1st, 1894. Japanese religious leaders begged the Rulers not to go to war because China would crush them and blood would be spilt needlessly, however this was useless because the new government was not interested in listening to them. China's Qing dynasty was in a very weak state at the time war was declared, the government knew that to preserve their current government they would have to win the war. In April of 1895 Japanese had broken through the Chinese lines and China was forced to relinquish Korea to Japan. Shortly after the Qing dynasty fell.

Korea was now part of Japan. The Russo-Japanese war happened in almost the exact same way that the Sino-Japanese war did. The Japanese Rulers were happy with their victory. Now they set their sights on a new piece of land, Manchuria.

The religious leaders still advised Japanese Rulers not to take part in the unholy rituals that westerners had been doing for many years, and it would be another blood bath. Manchuria was also being looked at by Russian Czars who needed a small military victory to suppress the rising internal suspicions of the government's weakness. Negotiations were held, but Russia had already begun to mobilize troops in 1904. Japan had an advantage, Japan held 700,000 well trained soldiers and a massive navy, while Russia had only 250,000 person, poorly stocked and untrained army, and a small old decrepit navy. Japan's victory came at no surprise to anyone. Japan now controlled Manchuria, and the czars in Russia lost all power.

Japan went from being a completely secluded traditional nation to a modernized open trade imperialist nation in a short 100 years. The traditions faded into the background so that religious practices were given up for practicality and faith faded for scientific fact, the government no longer listened to the advice of the religious leaders. The Emperor died in 1912 ending the Meiji period as the world sits on the brink of war. World War I stopped Japan's expansion west, but I believe Japan would control a lot of land if war had not erupted in 1914. Everyone was unsure of what would happen next.

Bibliography

Beastly, W.G". Meiji Restoration" Wikipedia. 1995.
May 21 2005.
This article provided good info about the Meiji restoration and was easy to read. It is from a very reliable source. It benefited my writing with detailed info. Jansen, Marius B. Making of modern Japan. United States: Harvard College. 2000 I checked this book out of the Corte Madera library.
This book has an entire 200 page section on the main part of our focus on the history of Japan. It is written in a good voice and I feel that I can pull quotes from it. Reischauer, Edwin O. Japan the story of a nation. New York: Alfred A. Knopf Inc, 1970.
I checked this book at the Corte Madera library. I read the description and it has about 30 pages of what I consider to be useful to me. It is written in the context of modernization. Russo Japanese war research society. 2002.
May 12 2005 This source gave me my detailed info on the Russo Japanese war.
I found this site because their was a link to it on its sister site. com. It has very good date lists. Sea grave, Sterling and Peggy. Yamato dynasty. New York: Broadway Books, 1999 I got this book from the Corte Madera library because it.