study-notes

Social Studies 8

Seems to be more thinking than memorizing compared to grade 7 Social Studies. Note from the future: this was very false. And also as a quick precursor:

• Worldview is how you view the world, and it’s pervasive.
  • Different groups of people share different or similar world views.
• A worldview isn’t a point of view, as a point of view is the way an individual sees things.
• A worldview isn’t a perspective, as a perspective is the way a group sees things.
• Worldviews are both of these and more. They ask the following questions:
  • How do geographical factors such as climate and location affect people?
  • In what terms does a society view time?
  • What roles are available to individuals in a society? Who holds power, and how is it maintained? Are certain benefits available to some people but not others?
  • How do people in a society act toward each other and to other societies?
  • What beliefs do people hold about life, death, and their environment?
  • Who controls resources? What should be produced? How will it be produced? Who gets it? How is it distributed and protected?
  • How do people develop knowledge? What ways of knowing are accepted? Who has access to knowledge? How is it valued? Where does it reside?

---

Times of Change

• During the Middle Ages, much of European society was organized in a system called feudalism: a hierarchy in which different people ranked differently from each other based off of their importance.
  • People were born into their level, and were expected to stay at that level.
  • Nobles and knights swore oaths of allegiance (loyalty) to the king. In return, they got land.
  • Barons, bishops, and other members of the Church held lots of power and land, as religion was a very important part of people’s lives.
  • Most people were peasants who lived in rural villages on a manor. They were assigned strips of land to plant and harvest.
  • They turned in a portion of what they produced in to the noble that owns the land. Peasants were also illiterate and uneducated.
  • Freemen were peasants who rented land from their lord or worked for pay. The rest were serfs who weren’t allowed to leave their manor without permission, and rarely went far.
• Most medieval towns were centers for farm communities. They usually grew close to castles, palaces, or large monasteries.
  • They were crowded, dirty, and rat-infested places, but offered freedom and opportunities to people. (do what one wanted to do, marry whoever, make money in whatever way)
  • According to the law, runaway serfs could gain freedom by staying in a town for a year and a day without being discovered.
  • Peasants might open workshops, learn trades, or work for wealthy merchants.
  • Production of goods and trade in the towns was organized by organizations called guilds. They controlled prices, set standards, and decided who would be admitted to the craft.
  • After years of working and training, people would take a test to become journeymen and be admitted to the guild. They might even be masters later on and open businesses.
• The Peasants’ Revolts were a series of revolts that broke out from peasants who had to pay high taxes and rents during the Hundred Years’ War.
  • Peasants banded together to kill nobles and burn their manors, but they were put down by the authorities.
• The Black Death resulted in the death of millions of Europeans between 1346 and 1350. Regular outbreaks of the plague continued for the next several hundred years.
  • There were also many manor labor shortages and feudal estates going bankrupt. Nobles eventually had to start renting or selling their land to serfs.
• As time went on, more people began to keep track of time with clocks and bells instead of the Sun, dials, water clocks, and hourglasses.
• With the rise of towns, society became less rigid. By acquiring wealth and skills (mostly in cities and towns), urban people could move up from one social level to another.
  • The power and social position of wealthy merchants and the new middle class was based on money rather than land.
  • People became more focused on showing off their wealth through their clothing, homes, and food.
    • This led to the introduction of sumptuary laws: laws that controlled how people could show off their wealth.
• Religion was a very central part of people’s lives daily lives. Life was also very difficult, so a hope for a better life after death was important to people.
  • The Church at the time was very important and had different roles within it. People also had to pay a tithe: a tax toward the Church.
  • Some people decided to devote their lives to God and become monks; they entered monasteries and spent their time studying religious texts, praying, and working. They also helped other people through food donations for the poor, caring for the sick, and teaching children.
    • Monasteries were centers of learning during the Middle Ages, and universities that grew around them taught grammar, geometry, astronomy, religion, law, medicine, and music.
  • The Black Death made some people question their faith; their attempts at pleasing God haven’t worked and felt abandoned.
    • People also started to take a critical attitude toward the Church because of this. It was a wealthy institution that owned a third of Europe’s land, received large sums of money in tithes, and some members like the clergy got caught up in the enjoyment of luxury.
• With all these reformations going on, a period of great creativity in the arts and sciences called the Renaissance was about to begin, starting in Italy.
  • Its name is French and means a rebirth of Classical knowledge and learning.

---

The Expansion of Trade

• Marco Polo and his family were known for travelling along the Silk Road. Marco also told stories of his journeys.
• The Silk Road was the major series of trading routes that connected civilizations from the Mediterranean in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the East. It was helpful for the trade of items, foods, and goods.
  • It was also important because it allowed for the sharing of ideas, knowledge, stories, and experiences. The Renaissance was hugely impacted by it.
• The crusades were a series of holy wars fought between Christian and Muslim forces aiming to gain control of sacred religious sites in Palestine important in the three Abrahamic religions.
  • They were mainly initiated by the Church in response to Turks taking over the land.
  • The Muslims regained control of Jerusalem after it was captured with the help of the Sultan Saladin.
  • Since the Muslim world was more advanced than Europe, an unintended consequence of the wars was the introduction of new ideas such as medicine, astronomy, philosophy, mathematics, and ancient literature to Europeans.
  • Muslim scholars also accepted the contributions of Christian and Jewish scholars.
  • There was also increased trade, and Europeans were introduced to new goods.
• During the Renaissance, Italy was a collection of city-states. A city-state consists of a city that’s politically independent, and the rural area around it is called the hinterland.
• Different features contributed greatly to the economic success of Italy:
  • Of all of Europe, Italy was the closest to the port cities of northern Africa and the eastern Mediterranean Sea (they had spices and luxury goods), so trade was made easier.
  • The climate of Italy was milder than the climate in the European countries north of the Alps. This meant that travel was not interrupted, and crops like olives and grapes could be grown.
  • While other countries where monarchies (ruled by a king or queen), Italy was a republic and had independent city-states.
  • Feudalism wasn’t as prominent in Italy compared to the other countries at the time in Europe.
• Because all the city-states wanted to expand, there was rivalry. For example, Genoa and Venice competed for control of the sea routes in the Mediterranean.
  • Venice became the largest ship-building center in Europe.
• The Polo family was also a group of merchants that made money by purchasing goods and selling them for a higher price somewhere else.
• There was a revolt in Florence caused by the unemployment caused by the Black Death. Workers like the Ciompi wanted to form guilds, but couldn’t because of powerful guilds and the government denying their requests. It caused an uprising that was then defeated.
• Florence’s economy became so powerful that its currency became the most important currency in Europe during the Renaissance, thanks to its banks and bankers.
  • Usury, the practice of charging interest when loaning money to someone, was considered a sin by the Church. However, with the growth of international trade, the Church began to allow charging interest for loans that involved risk.
• Wealthy Europeans travelled around on business, and helped with spreading Italian values and ideas across Europe.
• The Medici family was the most famous and powerful family in Italy, and were an important part of Florence’s cultural and political life for more than 300 years.
  • They made a fortune as wool and silk merchants and bankers. They also built alliances with other wealthy families.
  • Power was gained by getting acquiring important positions in the Church and getting married into Europe’s royal families.
  • By 1434, Cosimo de Medici was powerful enough to take control of Florence, so he bought people’s support and exiled his enemies from the city.
  • He then attacked and allied with neighboring city-states
  • Despite being ruthless in political matters, he and the Medici family helped promising artists.
  • Cosimo’s grandson, Lorenzo the Magnificent, was a patron of art and literature. He sponsored Michelangelo, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, and other famous artists and thinkers.

---

The Humanist Approach

• A new way of thinking starting in the northern Italian city-states known as humanism. It involved scholars looking back to the ancient Classical civilizations of Greece and Rome.
  • They were heavily interested in the ways ancient writers like Aristotle and Plato gave their opinions on society, politics, history, and the arts.
  • The Islamic civilization preserved lots of the Classical civilization and further developed it. (sciences, math, medicine)
  • Humanism was sort of a fad among the wealthy people in society at the time.
• The Classical concept that was most important to Renaissance thinkers and artists was the belief in the dignity and potential of the individual. They believed that people could shape their lives through their own efforts and talents.
  • Human beings can use the power of reason (thinking) to find truth for themselves.
  • It’s important for a person to have an open, curious, and questioning mind.
  • People can achieve great things through learning.
  • Individuals should be skilled in many different areas. They should develop not just their minds but also their bodies and spirits.
  • These new ideas didn’t actually contradict or conflict with the Christian worldview: To develop one’s talents was to serve God, because God had provided you with those talents.
• Some humanist scholars, such as Francesco Petrarch, saw the medieval world as a “dark age”, and the classical past as a glorious time.
• Civic humanists were interested in what Classical authors have written about good government. They believed that being a responsible citizen meant educating yourself about history and political issues and working to improve society.
• One of the most important ways that the humanists influenced Renaissance society was in the emphasis they put on education. Many humanists were dedicated teachers who ran their own schools.
  • They believed that it was important to train young people’s characters and bodies as well as their minds. This approach to education is sometimes called “educating the whole child”.
  • They encouraged a curious, questioning attitude in their students. Many rulers hired humanists as tutors for their children.
• Artists became interested in portraying the beauty of the human body and the natural world. Patrons (people who paid artists to produce works) played an important role in promoting the arts during the Renaissance.
  • Many artists found inspiration in the art of the ancient Greeks and Romans. During the Middle Ages, most art had religious themes and this continued through the Renaissance.
  • The Renaissance also saw a growing interest in portraits and landscapes. They also reflected the humanist interest in the individual, the present world, beauty, and human excellence.
  • Art included elements such as the following, previously not present in medieval art:
    • The natural world was much more present.
    • There were accurate lights and shadows.
    • Textures and patterns were more important.
    • Realistic and elegant details evolved.
• Renaissance architects included features of Classical buildings (pillars/columns, domes, arches) in their work, and raised the status of their profession form skilled laborer to artist.
  • They also used a variety of geometric shapes to develop complex designs, symmetry, and vividly painted interiors and ceilings.
• Sculptors during the Renaissance became very famous and became like artists, signing their work.
  • This is contrary to sculptors during the Middle Ages, as they were more often seen as craftspeople rather than artists. They worked on cathedrals, carving figures and other biblical decorations.
• Writers focused on translating the works of Roman and Greek writers as well as copying their styles. More books began to be written in the vernacular (commonly spoken language), to be more accessible.
  • Humanism influenced texts to express thoughts and emotions more.
• Many humanists also believed that men and women shouldn’t be judged by their gender, but their abilities and virtues.

---

The Exchange of Ideas

• Before the Renaissance, Europeans that wanted to learn science would have to read books by scholars from Classical or Islamic civilizations and were not encouraged to ask questions, study, or do any experimenting. This is in contrast to the attitudes toward science during the Renaissance, where thinkers did much more using what was called the scientific method.
  • The scientific method was the process of making observations, experimenting, and drawing conclusions based off of evidence. It led to many important discoveries and advances in different fields.
• For a long time, many people believed that the Sun went around the Earth. It wasn’t until different astronomers gave theories as they observed the universe:
  • Nicolaus Copernicus was a Polish astronomer that got ideas from ancient Greek astronomers and discovered that the Earth is a planet that moves around a stationary Sun.
  • Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician and astronomer that used mathematics to prove his ideas based off of Ptolemy and Copernicus’s systems that plants travelled in an elliptical (oval) orbit, and not perfect circles.
  • Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer and philosopher that built telescopes to study details in objects in the sky and confirm other Copernicus’s idea of a Sun-centered universe.
    • The Church charged him with heresy and ordered him to give up his views. If he refused, he might be tortured or burned alive for it, so he read a statement denying his belief in a sun-centered universe and was sentenced to house arrest. His book was put into the Index of Prohibited Books.
• Before the Renaissance, doctors had little accurate knowledge about anatomy, so remedies were based mostly off of superstition. But then, scientists were able to dissect human bodies and learn more about anatomy to better diagnose and treat problems.
• The works of mathematical scientists like Euclid and al-Khwarizmi were studied with new vigor during the Renaissance. The field of mathematics was seen as the basis for understanding the universe. Earlier civilizations also contributed to Europe learning.
  • Perspective (what makes images look 3D) had been known in the ancient world, but no record of it had ever been found. The Renaissance architect Filippo Brunelleschi rediscovered the mathematical theory of perspective to show how buildings would look when finished.
• Isabella D’Este grew up immersed in Renaissance teachings and ruled the city-state of Mantua occasionally.
• The Florentine civil servant Niccolo Machiavelli observed people and governments and wrote his conclusions on the best way to govern in his book The Prince, and it became very controversial and influential.
  • The term, Machiavellian, is used today to refer to people that seek to hold power by any means possible.
• During the Middle Ages, some Church members abused their power, gained power unfairly, and did not honor their vows. As time went on, people’s complaints grew louder.
  • Girolamo Savonarola was a monk that fought against corrupt leaders, mostly from the Church. He preached before as many thousands of people at times, but was then excommunicated (exclusion from the Church) and later executed.
  • The German monk Martin Luther studied the Bible itself and came to the conclusion that the Bible, rather than the Church, should be a Christian’s true spiritual guide. He also criticized the Church for making money by selling indulgences, which were certificates that reduced the time people would be punished for their sins after death.
    • He then nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on a church door in Wittenberg and told other scholars to debate the Church’s issues. The theses were then printed and distributed throughout Germany. He was declared an outlaw by the Church, but then a new Church was started: the Lutheran Church. His ideas spreading throughout was known as the Protestant Reformation.
• The spread of knowledge during the Renaissance was done in different ways:
  • Many humanists taught at Italian universities to share their new ideas through discussions with one another and through their writings. Some people came from all over Europe to learn and bring back knowledge.
  • Some famous scientists, artists, and thinkers were like celebrities travelling around Europe teaching and working with people.
  • Kings and queens invited scholars and writers to their courts and collected manuscripts, paintings, and sculptures.
• At the time, only the most educated people in society were literate, and books weren’t written in the vernacular. This changed when the German named Johannes Gutenberg developed a printing press that allowed books to be quickly be produced cheaply.
  • Soon enough, there were millions of books in print around Europe, and that facilitated the process of sharing knowledge. The ideas of scholars and humanists could be spread more easily and were more accessible due to being written in the vernacular.

---

The Age of Exploration

• During the Renaissance, people with power decided to have people explore for several reasons:
  • Trade grew across Europe as people with money demanded luxury goods. Commerce and manufacturing also expanded significantly. Europeans resented the high price of goods because they had to go a long way, so if a direct sea route was established to the East, trade for goods would be cheaper.
  • Europeans required more gold and silver to have more currency for exchange, as they were running out.
  • Since religion was very important, Renaissance explorers and monarchs believed that the message of Christianity had to spread throughout the world. Europeans were often accompanied by missionaries to convert the peoples that they find.
  • Europeans wanted to expand their knowledge of the known world, as it was quite limited at the time.
• Aside from better boat designs, there were also some tools used to aid with navigation and exploration:
  • The compass was used for finding the direction a ship was travelling and was probably developed in China and used by Muslim travelers.
  • Astrolabes used the North Star or Sun to calculate latitude (distance north or south of the Equator) and was probably invented by ancient Greeks and refined by Arab scholars.
  • The cross-staff measured the altitude of Polaris or the Sun to determine latitude.
  • Back-staffs were developed as an improvement over the cross-staff (they were used to measure the altitude of the Sun to determine latitude).
• During the Age of Exploration, many European countries had an expansionist worldview, so they wanted to expand their wealth and power by expanding their territory. This led to the desire to circumnavigate, or sail around, the Earth.
• Portugal was the first European country to become involved in organized exploration; year after year, Prince Henry sent expeditions east to gold-producing areas. The establishment of routes to Africa led to heavy involvement in the slave trade, and allowed for a way to Asia.
• Christopher Columbus was convinced that a shorter route to Asia lay west across the Atlantic Ocean. He died convinced that he was in Asia (he was around Central America the whole time).
  • Before he set off, he, Queen Isabella, and King Ferdinand made an agreement that they would claim and have power over all land visited.

---

The New World

• At the beginning of the Age of Exploration, Portugal and Spain sent out expeditions to find trade routes to Asia. After Christopher Columbus had discovered what he thought was a trade route to Asia, Portugal wanted to make sure it got its share of the Asian trade, but Spain couldn’t come to an agreement.
  • The rulers of both countries then asked the pope to settle the matter, so he proposed the secret Treaty of Tordesillas that would divide the world in half between the two. Other European rulers were angry about the treaty, and England and France simply ignored it.
• Imperialism is the extension of power over a territory and its resources and people. It led to the enslavement, terrible working conditions, and deaths of the millions of people originally in Central and South America as Spain profited off of it.
• Portugal became the most powerful trading country in Europe, while the Spanish conquering the peoples of America and their precious metals led to them being the wealthiest country in Europe. Other countries saw that power and wealth could be gained through imperialism, so competition grew. England, for example, attacked Spanish treasure ships, defeated Spain, and became a prosperous trading country and world power.
• After contact with the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, some European philosophers thought about the differences between both worldviews and societies.
• The impact of the Renaissance greatly affected the course of history, for better or for worse, as Europeans imposed their worldview on other parts of their world: their religion, ideas, values, and economic system.

---

The People of the Sun

• The Aztecs migrated looking for an eagle perching on a cactus with a snake in its beak, because it’s believed that their god Huitzilopotchli commanded them to do so. After 150 years of searching, they named their capital Tenochtitlan.
• For the Aztecs, mountains were seen as a sacred or holy site, because its height brought people physically closer to their gods, so they built pyramid temples similar to mountains for worship.
  • The mountains that surrounded Tenochtitlan gave a sense of security from invaders, but floods could be caused due to their steepness. Aztec engineers then built dams for control, and aqueducts were built for fresh water from underground springs.
• Lake Texcoco surrounded Tenochtitlan and also provided safety from the Aztec’s enemies. Causeways were built to link the lake to the mainland and could be destroyed for protection.
• The population of the Aztecs in Tenochtitlan grew from a few thousand to several thousand because of their ingenuity, engineering, military, and agriculture.
  • The Aztecs had more than enough food to supply their population and army, mostly due to farmers using floating islands in water called chinampa.
• The Aztecs believed that the gods controlled every aspect of their world looked to the gods for signs on how to live. Although they had many, they saw some as greater than others.
  • Huitzilopotchli was the Aztec’s tribal god, guided them to their homeland, and required the blood of sacrificed victims to gain strength to overcome the night’s darkness.
  • The most powerful of the gods was Tezcatlipoca, and he saw visions of the future and was locked in an eternal struggle with Huitzilopotchli.
  • Quetzalcoatl was the god of wind, and he left Mexico after a fight with Tezcatlipoca. Priests prophesied his return from the east in the year “One-Reed”, bringing destruction to the Aztec empire.
• The Aztecs kept large libraries of books called codices, which were used to record important information about their society. However, the Spanish then destroyed many of them.
• The Aztecs had two calendars: a solar calendar used for general and farming usage and a sacred calendar used for religious purposes. It takes exactly 52 years for both calendars to catch up with each other.
  • The Aztecs believed that there were four eras before the present one and each had been destroyed. The first one was destroyed by jaguars, the second by hurricanes, the third by fiery rain, and the fourth by a flood. It was said that earthquakes will destroy the fifth sun.
• The Aztecs believed that their gods would grow sick and die without nourishment from human blood, causing the world to end, so the Aztecs performed regular human sacrifice. War was therefore important because it provided victims for sacrifice; wars like these were called flower wars.
  • The Aztecs also believed that killing someone may give them a better afterlife, but it was also used as a form of intimidation to other peoples.
  • Every 52 years, the New Fire ceremony involved people fasting and letting their fires out. They waited on rooftops to see a sacred flame lit near Tenochtitlan, and a courier would then carry this flame from house to house to relight the fires.
• According to Aztec philosophers, the Earth was a round, flat disk divided into four sections, with Tenochtitlan at the center (the gods assigned them a special place in the universe).
• The Aztecs traded with other societies for things that they don’t have access to, like avocados, papayas, cacao beans, bright bird feathers, silver, and gold.
  • Merchants travelled for a while with many slaves to on purchasing and trading expeditions. They also acted as spies sometimes, mapping other cities for Aztec leaders.
• War and the conquering of others was very important to Aztec society; they believed that their group was destined to rule the world. In fact, military service was compulsory for every man: being called a cowardice was a horrible insult to the Aztecs.
  • Aztec warriors had to be ready to sacrifice their own lives for the good of the group, because people had to be quite patriotic.
  • Due to all this, the Aztecs managed to control an empire larger than any in North America.
  • When another group was conquered, Aztecs collected tributes, valuable gifts and taxes, to strengthen their empire.
• Cocoa beans, the basis of chocolate, were also rather important to the Aztecs: they were used as currency, drinks, and were said to give wisdom and power.

---

For the Good of the People

• Aztec society had two main classes of people: the nobles and the commoners. A person’s position was generally determined by which class they were born into, but some people were able to work their way up to higher levels through their own efforts.
  • The emperor, whose Aztec name meant Great Speaker, was treated as if he were a god by the Aztecs, and respect was shown to him through obedience without question. He had many privileges and luxuries, like living in an enormous palace with gardens and a zoo
    • The position wasn’t hereditary: a council of nobles decided by vote who was going to be the next emperor.
    • As the commander of the army, he had to be a skilled warrior himself that knew military strategy.
    • He would call upon his council of priests and nobles for advice, but the ultimate decision rested upon him.
• Units called calpolli organized people by their work or family and had its members living in the same place. Each calpolli had its own captain and council too; they assigned land and houses, collected taxes, and had to make sure the place was clean.
• Farmers grew crops, hunted, and fished. They sold much of what they produce and catch in the market, but also serve the state as well.
• Artisans, or skilled craftsworkers, produced fashionable clothing and fine art. The most valued creations were made by the feathers of the quetzal bird, that lives in tropical rainforests, because they were sacred and associated with Quetzalcoatl, the “feathered serpent” god.
• One of the largest markets in the world at the time was held daily in Tlatelolco, the market district of Tenochtitlan; it had tens of thousands of people visit every day. It wasn’t just a place for vendors to sell their many varieties of goods, but it also served as a social center for the Aztecs.
• In Aztec society, the most common way for people to indicate their position in society was through their clothing, jewelry, and house.
• The main way for Aztecs to move up in society was on the battlefield; capturing prisoners for sacrifice to honor the gods. A warrior that captures four enemies would become eligible for membership in a higher social status
• The writing system that the Aztecs used consisted of glyphs, which were pictures used for letters or words, and the Aztecs also had a base-twenty number system.
• Aztec children were educated at home until they started at school at the age of ten to fifteen. They were taught to be hard-working, disciplined, and obedient, so that Aztec society consisted of citizens with “a stone heart and a stone face”. Since education was valued, all schooling was free and every child went to school.
  • The calmecac was the school for nobles; they were often attached to a temple. Students studied codices to learn about their society, and religious training was an important part of their education. They learned things such as astronomy/astrology, mathematics, reading, writing, music, law, and the calendar.
  • At school, all boys trained as warriors to defend the Aztec state. Once a boy knew how to fight, he would server as a soldier’s servant until the age of fifteen, which is when they take an active role in battle. The eagle and jaguar were the most prestigious military orders.
  • The commoners’ school were called telpochalli. Since commoners weren’t taught literacy, instruction was verbal and based off of memorization. They were taught history, religion, citizenship, and music. Boys spent much of their time at school doing hard physical labor. Practical instruction from parents was also given at home.
  • Despite women having little political power, it was important for girls to receive a good education. Most of them would then get married at sixteen, move in, and maybe work as doctors, priestesses, healers, matchmakers, and midwives.
• Aztec society focused on producing citizens who would contribute to the community, so lessons in good citizenship were part of children’s education. There were five main virtues that were valued by the Aztecs:
  • Citizens were expected to show courage and deal with hardships without complaining.
  • The group was considered more important than the individual, and all Aztecs had to be willing to sacrifices many things for the good of society.
  • No one was to boast about personal achievements or do anything else to stand out from the crowd.
  • People had to keep themselves healthy and avoid over-indulging in food and drink.
  • Everyone had to obey superiors without question to preserve the social order.
• Every citizen had to obey the law, and since nobles were expected to set a good example, they were often judged more harshly than commoners.
  • There were high and low courts with different judges, and because there weren’t prisons, serious crimes often resulted in slavery and death.
• Because the Aztecs knew that slaves performed much necessary work, they had their rights protected: nobles that beat slaves to death could be executed, and slaves sold in the marketplace could escape and run to the emperor’s palace (about 1.5 kilometers) to win their freedom.
  • The Aztecs also didn’t believe that it was shameful to be a slave or that it was a permanent condition. Slaves could keep their property, and children born to slaves were free.

---

Spain Looks Westward

• At the beginning of the Middle Ages, most of Spain (and Europe) was Christian and ruled by the Visigoths, who invaded Spain at the end of the Roman Empire. After being vulnerable, a Muslim force landed in Spain in 711 and conquered almost the entire Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). A new sense of national identity was developed, and many Christians converted to Islam, while others didn’t.
  • Spain was then part of a vast empire; the Arab Islamic world was part of the largest economic trade zone in the world. Muslim rulers and merchants supported the arts, so music, art, and architecture reflected Islamic values.
  • Learning was greatly valued in Muslim society as a way of understanding the universe and to aid in living an ethical life. The world’s first university was established in Cairo, and many cities became great centers of learning. Muslim scholars studied and discussed medicine and science, and translated Classical books and essays with Jewish scholars.
  • Muslim Spain was a society that was relatively tolerant of religious minorities.
• By the early 1000s, the caliphate, or the area of jurisdiction of Islamic rulers, in Spain had begun to decline due to a series of ineffective rulers leading to periods of civil unrest. The small Christian-controlled area began to expand, as part of the Reconquista (meaning “reconquest”), which was a war based on religious differences.
  • Large groups of soldiers using the same weapon in tight formations were difficult to overrun and proved to be very effective in Europe (and soon the Americas).
  • Christian crusaders from across Europe helped with the Spanish Christian forces to win territory from Muslims, and after a long time, Spain was captured and a Christian land.
• Kind Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (they were called the Catholic Monarchs by the Pope), took control of the Spanish Inquisition from the Church, which was a state-run system of courts where Church officials put non-Catholics on trial. Muslims and Jews were given a choice: convert or be exiled. Some decided to leave Spain, while others pretended to convert, but there were still lingering fears, as inquisitors frequently used tortures to get confessions.
  • Because Spanish Muslims and Jews formed a large part of the educated middle class, with many being financiers and business people, the loss of their skills as they were expelled made it difficult for Spain to maintain economic growth at the end of the 1400s.
• Spain had three primary motivations for exploration: God, gold, and glory.
  • The Catholic Monarchs saw Islam spreading throughout Asia as a threat to the unity of Catholicism, and since they wanted to convert as many people to the Catholic faith as possible, missionaries would be sent with explorers and conquistadors on voyages and expeditions (Christopher Columbus said that there would be millions of people to convert in the “new lands”).
    • Missionaries were people from religious orders, priests, and other clergy who had the authority to teach and convert people to Catholicism. They would convert millions of Indigenous peoples from all over the world.
  • The idea that national wealth was based on a country’s supplies of gold and silver was an important part of European thinking during the Renaissance. It had many uses, from funding for wars to buying ships for exploration. Because Spanish Christians had been fighting the Muslims for centuries, Spain’s reserves of precious metals were almost depleted, so King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella hoped that expeditions and voyages would bring back gold to support the Spanish economy.
    • Despite not finding too much gold, Christopher Columbus told the Monarchs that he found lots of gold, so the king and queen approved a new, much larger voyage immediately.
    • Many hidalgos (poor nobles without land) refused to work manual labor or a trade, so they instead went to the Americas to seek their fortune.
  • Not all the people going to the Americas were seeking only riches; some wanted to make a name for themselves and earn respect in Spanish society.
• El Cid was a Christian knight and a complex character, as he sometimes fought on the Muslim side; he became revered as Spain’s national hero for some of his aspects: he was a militarily successful, loyal to his king, was generous and fair, and believed in God. These qualities became part of the code of chivalry.

---

A Deadly Meeting

• Conquistador, meaning “conqueror”, was the term that the Spanish leaders in the Americas used to describe themselves. They also had a formula for conquering an area:
  1. An expedition would set out from a recent colony.
  2. After landing in a new region, the Spanish would try to meet peacefully with the first groups of Indigenous people they encounter; their aim was to discover which group in the area was the most powerful.
  3. The Spanish would invite the leader of that powerful group to a meeting to exchange gifts. Then, the Spanish would seize the leader and threaten to kill him unless if his followers obeyed their orders.
  4. If they did have to fight, the Spanish would try to do so on open ground. They had the advantage with their horses, armor, and weapons.
  5. The leader of the expedition would remain as governor of the new colony and his second-in-command would organize the next expedition.
• Hernan Cortes grew up in Spain and decided that he would go to the Caribbean where there were colonies set up. He believed that that was a good place to make his fortune. He was invited to join an expedition to conquer Cuba, and with 300 men, the Spanish conquered Cuba using the conquistador’s formula.
  • Remaining in Cuba, he was second in command to Governor Velazquez, but he then left again after the Spanish discovered a new civilization more advanced than any other they’ve seen: the Aztecs. Along the way, Spanish forces encountered many Indigenous groups that either joined the Spanish or were defeated.
  • Velazquez tried to cancel the expedition because he was worried that Cortes would get all the glory for his discoveries, but Cortes ignored the governor.
  • Before striking inland to the Aztec Empire, Cortes established a town independent of Velzquez, sent a ship full of treasure to Spain, and sank the other ten to prevent Velzquez loyalists from defecting from his expedition.
• The Spanish beat the Aztecs in their war due to a few reasons:
  • The Spanish had much more advanced weapons compared to the Aztecs:
    • Aztec war clubs could cut and chop but required strength and shattered on hard surfaces, while Spanish swords were sharp and allowed for another hand.
    • Wooden spears had Aztecs get in close to the enemy before thrusting at unprotected areas, while the Spanish halberd was long and had three different points.
    • The Aztec atlatl allowed for spears to be thrown great distances with much more force than an arm, while crossbows allowed the Spanish to shoot with a very high force.
    • The Spanish also had weapons that used gunpowder, like muskets and cannons. These firearms were unknown to the Aztecs and frightened and confused them.
    • Horses helped the Spanish win because of their size, power, and speed. The Aztecs also didn’t know about them.
  • Disease gave the Spanish the advantage, as a smallpox epidemic broke out in Tenochtitlan. This ended up killing vast numbers of Aztecs and weakening their ability to resist the Spanish assault. The Aztecs, unlike the Spanish, had no immunity to such diseases brought by merchants and such.
  • When Cortes’s forces defeated the Tabascan people, among the gifts givens were slaves, and one of them was a woman named Malinche. She ended up acting as an intermediary between Cortes and Moctezuma (the Aztecs’ emperor), because she could speak both Mayan and Nahuatl; she became his advisor and spy. Without her, Cortes couldn’t have succeeded.
    • She learned Spanish and later became Christian and became known as Dona Marina.
    • In today’s Mexican popular culture, people use the term “malinchismo” to refer to the practice of preferring foreign things to Mexican things. It comes from Malinche’s name.
• The Battle of Tenochtitlan consisted of several events:
  1. Cortes and his forces were taken to live in the palace of Moctezuma’s late father.
  2. The Aztecs then showed them the glories of their city, including their golden treasures. This desire of wealth finally caused Cortes to attack.
  3. The Spanish placed Moctezuma under house arrest in his palace as they looted gold and melted it down. Moctezuma was forced to be a subject of Spanish rule.
  4. News came out that Spanish troops sent by governor Velazquez to arrest Cortes have arrived at the coast, so some troops were sent of to deal with that threat. Pedro de Alvarado was left in charge of Tenochtitlan; he gave the Aztecs permission to hold a festival, but he then had all the dancers massacred.
  5. Cortes defeated Velazquez’s forces and convinced them to join him against the Aztecs. When he returned, the city was in an uproar. He forced Moctezuma to calm his people down, but was killed by either stones being thrown or the Spanish strangling him.
  6. The Aztecs attacked the Spanish and their allies, killing many; the rest were driven out of Tenochtitlan.
  7. By the time Cortes returned six months later, 25% of the Aztec population was killed by the smallpox epidemic caused by the Spanish arriving.
  8. The Spanish tore down the city and destroyed its aqueducts. Only 60,000 Aztecs survived in the ruined city. Cortes would then lay the foundations for another Spanish colony in the Americas.

---

Worldviews in Conflict

• Many Aztecs, like Europeans during the Black Death, felt that their gods have abandoned them. Cortes then got many priests to come to Mexico City (formerly Tenochtitlan).
• The Spanish changed the economic system in Mexico by introducing the encomienda system: with each piece of land, settlers were allotted a number of unpaid Aztec workers.
  • The Spanish crown was at the top (it took a fifth of everything), the governor or viceroy collected taxes, Spanish conquistadors and settlers got Aztec workers and paid taxes, and the Aztecs did all the actual work on farms and in mines in return for not much.
• Cortes promised to his men that they would be rich, but most of the Aztec gold was sent back to Spain. A new law was made: every Spaniard in New Spain was forced to bring his wife or marry an Indigenous woman. This led to the Mestizo (mixed) people, who today represent 60% of Mexico’s population.
• King Carlos feared that Cortes might declare himself king of the colony and separate from Spain, so he sent Don Antonio de Mendoza to become the first viceroy, or royal representative, in New Spain. He wanted it to be clear that the Spanish crown controlled New Spain.
  • Due to Spain becoming extremely wealthy compared to New Spain, discontent arose among every class of society. In 1820, Mexico became independent of Spain with the help of the Mestizo leader of the Mexican independence movement, Jose Maria Morelos.
    • The descendants of Spanish settlers in Mexico were called Creoles, and despite being very privileged and wealthy, they supported the independence movement because of increasing taxes.
• Today, many of the Roman Catholic Church festivals in Mexico include Aztec traditions, and lots of Mexican artists and writers draw inspiration from Aztec and Spanish traditions.
  • The day of the Dead is a festive time, rather than a morbid occasion (from the textbook).

---

Shaping a Unique Worldview

• For centuries, the Japanese have described their country as the land of the rising sun. According to legend, the divine beings Izanagi and Izanami stood on the bridge of heaven and churned the ocean with a spear to make a small island of curdled salt. From that mystical beginning grew a string of islands: Japan. The two then went on to bear the deities called kami who inhabited the land from that time onwards.
  • It was said that Izanagi later a daughter named Ameaterasu. She was known as the sun goddess, but at one point, she went into a cave closed with a boulder and refused to come out. This led to the world being plunged into darkness, so the other gods eventually tricked her into coming out, bringing back light and hope to the Japanese people.
  • The Japanese flag also reflects this: the red circle represents the sun in the phrase “The Land of the Rising sun”.
• Forested mountains and steep valleys cover about 80% of Japan, with 18% of the country being level enough to permit agriculture or settlement. The places with the highest population density are mainly along the coast.
• Because Japan is an island country, it is geographically isolated from its nearest neighbors: Korea, China, and Russia. It is an archipelago consisting of four main islands and over 3000 other smaller islands.
  • Archaeological evidence suggests that there was contact between Japan and China as early as the mid-200s and some with Korea between the 400s and 800s. The 500s onwards saw some immigration to Japan.
• The Japanese adopted some elements from other cultures, such as the Chinese characters known as kanji. Later, a new system was developed that combined kanji with Japanese characters called kana.
• Celebrations and rituals celebrate the change in seasons and have traditionally played an important part in all Japanese life. Cherry blossoms are the most beloved flowers among the Japanese and the spring blooming of the cherry trees is a time of celebration.
  • Cherry blossoms represent many things to the Japanese, including new beginnings, beauty, and the shortness of beauty and life.
• Nature has played a dominant role in the culture of the Ainu, Japan’s Indigenous people. They regard things like fire, water, wind, thunder, animals, and plants as gods called kamuy that visit the Earthly world. They lived in the northern part of Japan for several thousand years in the area called Ezochi, Land of the Ezo. The word ainu means “human” in the language.
  • The Japanese began to take over the Ainu lands; the Ainu tried to resist, but they were defeated. Their territory officially became part of Japan and their primary island was renamed to Hokkaido. Assimilation was then done to forbid them from speaking their language and practicing their customs along with other restrictions.
  • Today, many elements of Ainu culture have been widely integrated into Japanese society.
• Shinto was the ancient religion of Japan, with the love of nature being its most important aspect. It’s based on the belief that sacred spirits called kami take the form of objects in nature such as mountains, trees, and stones. The sun goddess Amaterasu was considered to be the most important kami, and humans were said to become kami when they die and are honored by their families.
  • Festivals called matsuri are held throughout the year to celebrate the kami.
  • Shinto doesn’t have a founder or any religious laws, so for these aspects of religion, the Japanese turned to faiths from China: Buddhism and Confucianism.
• Japan is located in an area which is known for several natural disasters, including earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, typhoons, and monsoons. As a result, the people of Japan have become stoic (able to control emotions during difficult experiences with patience) and learned to adjust and adapt to sudden, harsh changes.
• Compared to the countries of Renaissance Europe, Japan had relatively little trade with other countries before 1853, yet the country survived and prospered. Japan’s farmers and fishers provided sufficient food to feed their people, wood for building and fuel came from the abundant forests, silkworms and cotton plants provided material for clothing, and artisans made use of the available metals. Japan was a self-sufficient country.
  • Nature compensated for the limited amount of arable (land suitable for farming) by making it very fertile along with a temperate climate and dependable amount of rainfall.
• Rice was the main food in Japan (along with seafood). Although the poorest Japanese could afford rice only occasionally, it was, and still is, the food most associated with Japan and its culture (not sushi). Growing rice is labor-intensive, as it depends on the right amount of moisture brought by monsoon winds deposited as rain. In the past, rice crops failing resulted in famine, causing disruption and turmoil in the country.
  • For centuries, rice was also the Japanese money system. For tax purposes, the value of land was determined by the estimated amount of rice that it could produce. A person’s worth was determined by rice production.
  • The Japanese word gohan, meaning “did you eat”, actually means “did you eat rice”. This illustrates how rice was considered part of every meal.
• Fish and seaweed was also harvested, providing protein and vitamins. The sea and its food became central to the Japanese way of life. Soy is another important part of the Japanese diet.
• Japan was considered to be a mostly homogeneous society: greatly unified with common values and beliefs. This was mostly because of the sea as a geographical feature; most of the population lived along the coast and the sea provided a communication and trading corridor for them. Ideas, beliefs, and values as well as goods were exchanged.

---

Japan Under the Shogun

• The story of the 47 ronin had the shogun get Lord Asano and other nobles to meet with a representative of the emperor. A court official, Lord Kira was assigned to teach Asano the correct way to behave. When Asano didn’t pay Kira enough for his help, he became angry and cut Kira’s arm with his sword. Knowing that he committed a forbidden act (drawing a sword in the Edo castle and wounding an important official), he took his own life under the order of the shogun. Now that Lord Asano was dead, his 47 samurai became ronin: warriors without a master. Without their honor and position in society and out of loyalty for their master, they killed Lord Kira to avenge Asano, and killed themselves too.
  • This story is known widely in Japan because of how it portrays honorable behavior in the warriors.
• The Edo or Tokugawa period of Japan history lasted from 1600 to 1868. Edo, the present-day city of Tokyo, was the capital during this time and the Tokugawa shogunate ruled.
  • In the hundreds of years prior, the Sengoku Jidai period involved Japan being in almost constant warfare. Powerful landowners or nobles known as daimyo competed with one another for territory and power.
• Japanese names have the family name/clan name/surname at the beginning, followed by the given name.
• Tokugawa Ieyasu became the most powerful man in Japan after defeating rival daimyo and generals in numerous battles. The emperor made him shogun in 1603. Although the emperor technically ruled the land, the shogun really held all the power.
  • He won power through military strength and had to hold on to it, so he was determined to create a powerful shogunate where no would dare to challenge him or his descendants. Some strategies and steps he took included:
    • Alternate attendance meant that for every second year, the daimyo were forced to live in Edo, while the other year had them living in their domain. The cost of keeping up two homes and moving every year meant that daimyo wouldn’t have the time and money to challenge the shogun. In addition, Daimyo were required to leave their family members in Edo during their absence as hostages in the case of an uprising or plot.
    • The bakuhan system of two levels of government was established. The shogunate had control over important matters such as foreign trade and relations, while the daimyo controlled local affairs in their territory.
    • Strict laws controlled many aspects of the daimyo’s lives, such as dress and marriage. They also had to pay for projects such as road building, restricting their wealth.
    • Peasants were banned from owning weapons or swords to prevent armies.
    • A network of secret police was established. Anyone accused of threatening the shogun’s power was considered guilty and punished severely.
    • A quarter of all the agricultural land, mine, ports, and cities in Japan were owned by the shogun.
• Japan had a rigid feudal hierarchy intended to help the shogun maintain control, and membership in each class was hereditary (determined by birth). There were many rules for each class dictating what they can and can’t do.
  • Like the knights of the European feudal system, Japanese samurai were the much-respected warrior class. They lived in castle towns controlled by the shogun or daimyo they served, and only they were allowed to have swords. The least respected samurai were the ronins: samurai without masters.
    • Samurai had a large curved sword for slicing enemies and a smaller sword used for decapitation and seppuku.
    • Despite having privilege and status, they were forbidden from becoming involved in trade or business, so they worked as officers during peacetime.
    • The samurai stood for many virtues: honor, bravery, unquestioning loyalty, self-discipline, and self-denial. They were expected to be brave when faced with pain or death and be prepared for battle, and when they to, samurai died for honor to their daimyo by committing seppuku (ritual suicide). It involved disembowlment via a small sword.
  • Peasants were considered important in Edo Japan because they produced the food that sustained society, but laws restricted what they could do. Farmers were therefore among the most important peasants.
  • Artisans or craftspeople usually lived in towns and cities. They produced high quality items to be sold but had a lower social status than that of a peasant’s because they weren’t primary producers and relied on materials produced by others. Swordsmiths were the most honored of all artisans.
  • Merchants bought items from artisans to trade or sell to others. They arranged for the shipping and distribution of food and stored rice in their warehouses; they were considered to be similar to bankers because rice was used as currency. They had to live carefully, because the government punished those that showed off their wealth or criticized the government.
  • Women did not have legal existence in Edo Japan; they couldn’t own property and were expected to obey their husbands. Like men, their role was determined at birth and prescribe what they would do.
  • Outside of Edo society were the outcasts: people who were shunned or ignored by other classes because of their work or condition. Workers that dealt with death, like butcher and tanners, people with leprosy, and the Ainu had to live apart form the rest of society, weren’t allowed to change jobs, enter a peasant’s home, or be in a city after 8 PM.
• The teachings of Confucianism played an important role in the Japanese acceptance of class distinctions. Confucius was a Chinese scholar whose teachings for moral living were brought over to Japan by Buddhist monks. It was said that everyone had a proper place in society, and everyone obliged, there would be peace and order.
  • Many of Confucius’s sayings encouraged people to be modest and work hard. He stressed the need for rituals of proper behavior and compassion. One of his famous sayings was “What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others”.
• As masters of the farmers, artisans, and merchants, the samurai used their power to keep order in Japanese society. They organized the lower classes into groups of five families called goningumi. Members of these groups were supposed to help each other and were responsible for the behavior of others.
• In 1543, a Portuguese ship was wrecked off the shore of a small Japanese island. The Portuguese were interested in trade and were soon followed by other Europeans. The Japanese were greatly intrigued by their muskets and other firearms, so copies were made.
  • At first, the Portuguese and the Japanese had favorable impression of each other. However, they had many differences, both cultural and religious. After all, the Europeans have been influenced by Renaissance values and ideals.
  • Francis Xavier, a Jesuit missionary, arrived in Japan in 1549 to convert the upper classes (the daimyo and samurai) to Christianity. The Japanese were new to the idea of monotheism (one god) compared to polytheism (multiple gods).

---

Edo Japan’s Closed Society

• The shogun saw foreigners, specifically Europeans, as threats. If the daimyo acquired European weapons, they might challenge the shogun’s authority. He also saw loyalty to the Christian God and Church as another threat to his authority, so all Christian missionaries were ordered to leave the country; churches were destroyed and Japaneses Christians who refused to give up their new faith faced execution. The shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu also set up exclusion laws to cut of contact:
  • All Christian missionaries and foreign traders were forced to leave Japan. Newcomers were no longer allowed to enter.
  • The Japanese were not allowed to go abroad.
  • Ships large enough to make long voyages could no longer be built, and existing ones were destroyed.
  • Japanese who were out of the country were forbidden to return.
  • Most foreign objects were forbidden. All foreign books containing a Christian message were banned; scientific books were also forbidden.
  • People needed to get special documents to travel from one domain to another, and a curfew was instituted. Wheeled transport was banned.
  • The shogun banned all Portuguese in Japan and expelled all foreigners except for Dutch, Korean, and Chinese traders. The Dutch were only allowed on a small island on the harbor of the city of Nagasaki.
    • The shogun excluded Dutch traders from the exclusion laws because they were seen as less threatening (more interested in trade rather than religion). Nevertheless, the families of the Dutch traders couldn’t join them and their Japanese servants were forbidden to talk with them. Once a year, the Dutch were required to make and expensive trip to Edo to pay their respects to the shogun for three months.
    • The shogun had a few Japanese scholars learn about the Dutch language and medicine. There were also some positive responses to these western studies: the shogun allowed an importation of non-religious European books and an observatory was built.
• The Japanese wanted to live in a society that embodied the things that were important to them: peace, safety, security, harmony, respect, order, and leisure time. The peace and security in Edo society came at a cost: life was controlled by rigid rules, and there was little freedom.
• Long periods of stability and peace usually result in more wealth for a country. In some ways, Edo Japan had a booming, or expanding, economy:
  • Farmers increased production by irrigating and growing two crops on the same piece of land during one growing season.
  • Road improvements financed by the daimyo helped increase trade.
  • The population increased in urban centers.
  • Silver and gold coins were introduced as currency, or money.
• Japan still had little foreign trade, the overtaxing of peasants, and the continued use of rice for payment in most transactions held the economy back.
• As a direct result of the peace and prosperity of Edo Japan, the arts and culture were able to flourish; many things associated with Japanese culture to this day developed during the years of isolation. Cultural activities took place in areas called the floating world, which were entertainment districts where the rules and controls of society were relaxed.
  • Kabuki was a traditional form of Japanese theater where only men played both male and female roles.
  • Noh was a musical dance drama where the actors wore masks that symbolized the character’s types and spiritual states.
  • Bunraku was a theater that involved large, life-sized puppets. They enacted the ordeals of separated lovers or dueling samurai.
  • Sumo wrestling originated in ancient times as a religious performance; it became a popular form of entertainment in Edo Japan.
  • Ritual tea ceremonies used to bring peace of mind and joy to people.
  • The haiku was a form of poetry that often narrated nature. They consist of five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five again in the third and last line.
• By the end of the 1700s, Edo was a bustling commercial center with a population of about a million people; it was the largest city in the world at the time.
• However, there were some problems faced by people living in the Edo period:
  • Peasant’s needed money to pay their high taxes, and the high cost of alternate attendance caused daimyo to near bankruptcy.
  • There was little real work for the samurai, and many of them were too proud to take up another job. This led to many marrying the daughters of merchants, going against strict social rules.
  • During the late 1700s and early 1800s, Japan was hit by many natural disasters that brought about famines and took many lives. A third of the population died of starvation.
  • The scarcity of rice led to a steep increase in price, so city dwellers attacked the homes of the wealthy.
• By the early 1800s, several nations were knocking on Japan’s door: Russia, England, and the United States requested trade, or at the very least, water and coal for their passing ships. In 1825, the shogunate responded with the “No Second Thought Expulsion Order”: whenever a foreign ship was sighted approaching any point of the coast, people should fire on it and drive it off. If the foreigners forced their way ashore, they were to be captured and imprisoned.

---

Contact and Change in Meiji Japan

• In 1853, the American Commodore Perry arrived to Japan in 1853 to cause pressure to influence Japan. The Japanese reacted with fear and respect for mainly three reasons:
  • Perry showed off his military strength by bringing large steamships and guns with him.
  • The Japanese didn’t want to be treated negatively the way European countries treated China in the Opium War.
  • The Japanese felt like that they had to keep the US happy, so that all would be well.
• The Americans asked for trade, coal, and protection for shipwrecked sailors, and a year later, Commodore Perry returned with double the number of ships and men. The Japanese agreed to sign the Treaty of Kanagawa: it opened up two Japanese ports to American ships, established an American consulate in Japan, and accepted the demands regarding shipwrecked sailors and coal.
  • In 1858, Japan signed similar treaties with England, France, The Netherlands, and Russia. Many people in Japan referred to these treaties as “unequal treaties” because they were forced upon Japan, and they lessened control over their trade.
• Many groups of people thought that the shogun signing the treaties was a sign of weakness and caused an uproar. Others thought that some change was good, and others thought that lots of change was required.
  • Groups that disagreed with the shogun or each other no longer debated their differences in council chambers, but instead took to rioting in the streets and other acts of violence.
  • Daimyo who opposed the shogun were retired or put under arrest. Their samurai were imprisoned, exiled, or executed.
  • Attacks on foreigners increased and at times, foreign gunboats bombarded the Japanese shore in response.
• Finally, in 1868, the shogun (Tokugawa Yoshinobu) resigned but formally petitioned the emperor to take over power. Civil war broke out between those who wanted to restore the shogunate and those who favored rule by the emperor. The country was divided, but in the end, 30,000 troops supporting the emperor blasted a shogunate stronghold for two weeks and then set it on fire.
• When the young (21-year-old) Prince Mutsuhito was made emperor of Japan, he changed his name to Meiji, meaning “enlightened rule”. The Meiji Restoration was the beginning of the entire Meiji period. It was when the government emphasized the importance of the emperor over the shogun.
  • The samurai that led the fight to defeat the shogunate and restore the emperor now became his advisors. This oligarchy (unelected group of powerful leaders) took control of the government in the emperor’s name and ruled the country.
• It was realized that Japan would have to change in order to keep westerners from taking over like in China. Japan had to have a strong country with economic and military power to take its place in the modern world.
  • A strong central government would unite the country and rule it effectively, and a form of government closer to the democracies of the west would be created. The government and emperor also moved to Tokyo (the new Edo), the capital.
  • Meiji leaders encouraged daimyo to turn over their lands to the state, and although they were given pensions as compensation, the Meiji leaders pointed out that the land had actually always been the property of the emperor.
  • The samurai system was abolished by the government, and samurai were given a tax-free income that didn’t last for long.
  • Commoners were given new rights after the Charter Oath: they were allowed to choose where they would live and what occupation they would pursue. Commoners could have a family surname. Old rules about dress were no longer enforced, and peasants became the outright owners of their land. Discrimination against outcasts was also ended.
    • In 1871, the Emancipation Edict, which was designed to emancipate (free) the burakumin (outcasts) from their lowly position in society, was passed by the Meiji government. The edict did little to improve their lives. Further legislation over the years attempted to end prejudice.
  • Leaders decided that education needed to be based on traditional values and centered on developing respect for the emperor.
    • The Imperial Rescript on Education was issued by the Emperor in 1890 to outline Japan’s new education values.
• Despite all these changes, life remained the same for many because fathers still controlled their families, class distinctions remained, rural peasant life remained largely the same, and many people couldn’t afford to send their children to school.
• Industrialization was the process of transforming the economy of a nation or region from a focus on agriculture to a reliance on manufacturing, so new machines were used to make a lot of new technology (mass production). In the west, the Industrial Revolution had machines that could quickly and efficiently produce goods gradually be invented. Factories were built where many workers produced large amounts of goods. Transportation was also revolutionized.
  • In Japan, Perry brought a miniature steam engine with its own track and two telegraph sets in exchange for lacquer work, porcelain, and fine silk fabric.
• In order to modernize Japan, the Meiji leaders sent a mission around the world to visit and study dozens of countries. It was made up of ambassadors, historians, and scholars. The government also sent along 60 students, some of whom were left behind to study in some of the countries they visited. Tsuda Umeko, frequently called “the mother of women’s education” was among them.
• The Japanese government began a wide-scale project of gathering new ideas from abroad about technology, and lots of machinery was built.
• In Japan, large, essential industries were planned, built, and paid for by the government. Once they were prosperous, they were sold at low prices to established large family firms.

---

Return to Roots

• Many people in Meiji Japan were open to new ideas and ways; wealthy people bought western clothing and goods for their homes. Poorer people also accepted western ideas. Other Japanese, however, were conservative and felt more comfortable with traditional ways. There was conflict between those two groups.
• The motto of the movement for westernization was “Civilization and Enlightenment”. The Meiji government officials and other reformers wanted to change the unequal treaties with the Western countries by showing Japan as a modern and “civilized” country.
  • Western visitors were often not tolerant of Japanese customs, so officials outlawed behavior that was deemed offensive to foreigners: sparse clothing, tattoos, and public bathing.
  • Western food was served, and the behavior and clothing of western diplomats was also replicated; people shook hands, cut hair short, grew facial hair, and wore uniforms.
• Many Japanese people thought that their society was going too far on its path to westernization; backlash was setting in. Leaders then recognized that the Japanese were a proud and independent people with important traditions, customs, and beliefs, so the pace of westernization was slowed down.
  • The motto “Western science, Japanese essence” was favored.
  • For centuries, both Shinto and Buddhism had been accepted religions in Japan, and many people followed a combination of both. Now Buddhism was discouraged, and Shinto, the traditional religion of Japan, was declared its official religion. The emperor was given the status of a god.
  • A constitutional study mission had a constitution for Japan written. It described the emperor’s powers as “sacred and inviolable” and granted Japanese citizens things such as freedom of speech and religion, rights to privacy, property, movement, and legal rights.
    • Legal rights only extended to men, not women, but some men gave their wives and daughters inheritances of their own.
• Meiji leaders knew that a country had to have a strong military, so another motto was adopted: “Wealthy Country, Strong Army”. The Japanese government then took a series of steps:
  • The Conscription Law of 1873 required all males to serve in the military for three years and do reserve duty for four more years.
  • The Sino-Japanese War was short and between China. The following peace treaty led to China giving up its claims to Korea, and Japan took Taiwan and the Liaotung Peninsula. However, western powers stepped in and changed the peace treaty, favoring China a little more than Japan.
  • In 1904, the Japanese fleet launched a surprise attack on Russian ships and the Russo-Japanese War erupted shortly afterward. Russia was seriously affected by the Russian Revolution, so it decided to enter into peace negotiations instead.
  • Japan then annexed Korea with very little protest from western countries.
• Different Japanese thinkers criticized different areas of Japan’s change: some said that Japan returning from westernization to tradition was bad, while others said that Japan was too focused on becoming powerful.
• When Emperor Meiji died in 1912, his leading general and the general’s wife committed junshi, a ritual suicide after the death of one’s lord. Some praised this by calling it loyalty, while others saw it as from the past.
• Japan’s militarization and imperialism that began during the Meiji era led to its involvement and loss in World War II; it went from a mostly unknown island in the ocean to a huge economic and imperial superpower.
• Today, the people in Japan are still borrowing things from the rest of the world, and the rest of the world is borrowing things from Japan.

This site is open source. Improve this page.