DOCUMENT BASED QUESTION: PRE-HISTORY



DBQ: THE FALL OF THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE

Directions

The following question is based on the accompanying documents. (The documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise). The question is designed to test your ability to work with and understand historical documents. Write an essay that:

• Has relevant thesis and supports that thesis with evidence from the documents.

• Uses all or all but one of the documents.

• Analyzes the documents by grouping them in as many appropriate ways as possible and does not simply summarize the documents individually.

• Takes into account both the sources of the documents and the authors’ points of view.

Essay Prompt

Analyze the issues and conditions in the 19th century, which led to the overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the restoration of the rule by the Japanese emperor.

Based on the following documents, discuss causes for the replacement of the last Tokugawa shogun. What types of additional documentation would help access the conditions, which led to the Meiji restoration?

Historical Background

In the early 17th century, the Tokugawa established the third and last of the Japanese shogunal dynasties. Until 1867, the Tokugawa shoguns ruled as a military dictator from Edo (Tokyo) and the emperor was a figurehead who lived in isolation at his palace in Osaka. In 1867, a revolt overthrew the last shogun and returned power to the emperor. This revolution was called the Meiji Restoration after the reign name of the restored emperor.

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DOCUMENT 4

DOCUMENT 5

DOCUMENT 6

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DOCUMENT 8

DOCUMENT 9

FOOTNOTES

1. David J. Lu, Japan: A Document History, vol. 2, The Late Tokugawa Period to the Present (Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1997), 280 – 281.

2. John W. Dover, ed., Origins of the Modern Japanese State: Selected Writings of E. H. Norman (New York: Pantheon Books, 1975), 148.

3. Albert M. Craig, Choshu in the Meiji Restoration (Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2000), 39 – 40.

4. Albert Craig, Choshu, 87.

5. Albert Craig, Choshu, 328.

6. Mikiso Hane, Pre-Modern Japan: A Historical Survey (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1991), 217.

7. Hane, Pre-Modern, 216.

8. S. B. Okun, The Russian America Company, B. D. Grekov, editor, translated by Carl Ginsburg (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1951), 245.

9. David Lu, A Document History, 277 - 278.

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Yoshida Shonin, a lower rank samurai, Confucian scholar and student of Western learning, a leading spokesman to restore the emperor, his comments, 1854; executed for treason by the Shogun, 1859

“It is clear that the Americans’ intentions are harmful to the land of the Gods. It has been proven that the words of the American envoy have caused the land of the Gods to be dishonored. In view of this, the emperor, in extreme anger, decreed that relations be severed. His command the shogun was obliged to obey without delay and he failed to do so. His government behaved with arrogance and independence and made flattery of the Americans the highest policy of the land. It gave no thought to the national danger, did not reflect upon the national disgrace, and disobeyed the imperial decree. This is the shogun’s crime. Now it would be proper to destroy and to kill in accordance with the fundamental principle of righteousness.”

Baron Stoekl, Russian diplomat who would later negotiate the sale of Alaska to the United States, a letter to the Russian Foreign Minister Prince Aleksander Gorchackov, 1859. Russia had tried three times since 1796 to get Japan to open their ports to Russian ships and had raided Japanese territory several times.

“Our interests lie on the Asiatic coast and we should direct our energy thither. In that area, we are in our own territory and in a position to exploit the production of a vast and wealthy region. We shall take part in the extraordinary activity that is being developed in the Pacific. Our establishments will vie with similar establishments of other nations, and in view of the solicitude which our august monarch has given the coast region of Amur (the part of Russia across the sea from Japan), we must not miss the opportunity to attain in this vast ocean the high position of which Russia is deserving.”

Keisei Hisaku, samurai and advocate of Western learning, from his memorandum to his daimyo, Secret Plans for Governing the Country, 1798

“If the samurai can remember that their basic functions are the study of literature and practice of military arts, and if they can refrain from luxury and live frugally, treating the farmers well and sincerely nurturing them, then there will be no poverty. However, nowadays, it is common to see a debt incurred by daimyo (landed nobles) increasing instead of decreasing even when he continuously reduces the stipends due his samurai to pay for his debt to the merchants. There is not a single daimyo who is not in debt with one or more merchants. In the eyes of the merchants, the daimyo must look like birds or fish caught by a net cast by a hunter or fisherman. All daimyo select officials who impose extra burdens on farmers in an attempt to repay their debts, but these debts do not decrease. Since the great famine of 1783, many of the fields and gardens previously owned by the victims of starvation have been abandoned. But nowadays many of them are reduced to ghost villages without any harvest. Unless the daimyo treat the farmers kindly and protect them and nurture them, this custom cannot be easily eradicated. We look for the coming of an enlightened ruler who will establish a government based on the great mercy and compassion of the Buddha.”

Shimazu Hisamitsu, Daimyo of Satsuma and an ally of the Choshu daimyo in his revolt against the shogun, a petition to the Shogun, 1866

“Since last year signs of great civil disturbance have appeared. On several occasions armies have been moved, commoners have been killed, and now peasant uprisings beak out in Tamba and Yamato (provinces) and riots occur in Hyogo, Osaka, and Edo (cities). As the Shogun is presently in Osaka, his august command and military might should be shining forth in all directions; on the contrary, the merchants and lowly people at his very feet break the law without regard for his authority. This is the result of what is called “a misery so great that life is unbearable” and it is an intolerable situation.”

Sakuma Zozan, a leading scholar of Dutch learning and Confucianism, 1854, comments from his writings

“In teachings concerning morality, benevolence, and righteousness, filial piety, and brotherly love, loyalty, and faithfulness, we must follow the examples and precepts of the Chinese sages. In astronomy, geography, navigation, surveying, the investigation of the principles of all things, the art of gunnery, commerce, medicine, machinery, and construction, we must rely mainly on the West. We must gather the strong points of the Five Worlds and construct the great learning of our imperial nation.”

Oshio Heihachiro, respected scholar and official in the Osaka Town Commissioner’s office, his manifesto during the 1837 uprising addressed to the village officials, elders, farmers, peasants, and tenant farmers; executed by the Shogun

“If the four seas suffer destitution, the beneficence of heaven cannot long survive. If a man of small stature governs the country, calamities become inevitable. These are the teachings bequeathed by the sage of old to the later generations of rulers and subjects. During the past 250 years of peace, those who ruled from above became accustomed to luxury and they now live in sheer extravagance. Those officials who are entrusted with important political affairs openly give and take bribes. Some who lack virtue and righteousness still attain high positions as a result of the influence they have through the ladies in waiting. They levy an excessive amount of money from common people and farmers. These are the people who have suffered excessive exactions of annual taxes and the various types of forced labor.”

Osaka Rice Exchange, Sole Official Exchange for Shogun Japan:

Price of 1 Koku of Higo Rice

|YEAR |1 KOKU IN |YEAR |1 KOKU IN |

| |SILVER MOMME | |ILVER MOMME |

|1854 |84.8 |1861 |142.5 |

|1855 |77.1 |1862 |172.0 |

|1856 |82.4 |1863 |100.5 |

|1857 |106.3 |1864 |325.5 |

|1858 |131.5 |1865 |513.0 |

|1859 |120.4 |1866 |1300.0 |

|1860 |203.0 |1867 |590.0 |

(one koku is the amount of rice necessary to feed one person for a year)

(Conversion rates: 60 silver momme equals one gold rye)

Total Debt of Choshu, One of the Major Domains of the Daimyo (Landed Elite)

(1 Kan = 8.27 pounds of silver)

|YEAR |DEBT IN KAN |YEAR |DEBT IN KAN |

|1603 |--- |1704 |11,613 |

|1622 |4,000 |1705 |15,822 |

|1632 |--- |1707 |10,000 |

|1638 |--- |1708 |13,000 |

|1644 |3,682 |1712 |50,000 |

|1646 |6,200 |1724 |12,547 |

|1649 |8,439 |1730 |15,076 |

|1652 |7,430 |1731 |15,000 |

|1658 |3,912 |1758 |41,300 |

|1676 |12,000 |1838 |92,026 |

|1682 |22,000 |1840 |85,252 |

1840 Income for Choshu

(1 Koku is the amount needed to feed one person for a year)

|Taxes Expressed in Koku |75,800 koku | |

|Taxes Expressed in Silver Kan | |3,790 Kan |

Advice of the Choshu Daimyo (Landed Noble) to the Shogun, 1853

“Although there are various requests in the letter from the US president, the essense of the letter is that they are seeking friendly trade with Japan, and that they intend to send warships if they are not accomodated. If for the present, trade is permitted according to their request, then for the time being, the affair will be settled peacefully. However if we permit the Americans to trade, then the other barbarians will make similar demands until finally Japan’s national strength will be weakened by trade. Recently in nearby China, a dispute arising from trade has turned into war, and one hears of the suffering and misery of the people. Moreover, trade also paved the way for the downfall of the Sung and the Ming dynasties. Therefore refuse their demands in such a way as to strike terror into the hearts of the foreign pirates.”

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