Civil Unrest In The 1800's

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Civil Unrest
In the mid 1800’s, there was bad weather which caused poor crops and farmers and peasants starving. The citizens were questioning the government and the changes the government was making.Many Samurai began to support the emperor instead of the Bakufu. Many were angry because the Harris Treaty was signed against the emperor’s decisions. Many felt very loyal to the emperor and the imperial court, especially some samurai. Some leaders though were not loyal to the emperor, and the shogun wanted to create a new government, headed by the emperor. They worked to convince people that, that was best. They used the slogan “sonno jo” meaning “revere the emperor”. They began to increase military arm, they began to purchase weapons and ships …show more content…

They tried to appeal; to the Japan traditionalists and built loyalty to the government. The creation story about the emperor made it impossible for the Japanese to not respect the emperor. He was very well known and became an icon of Japan.
Japan Emperors Beliefs
The Japanese believed that the world began with a sun goddess. The sun goddess then gave her grandson some gifts who were passed down to the Japanese emperors. The gifts were a mirror a sword and a carved jewel. The ancient Japanese believed that the emperor had magical powers and could talk to the …show more content…

In 1868, Emperor Meiji signed the Charter Oath. In the oath it outlined the goals and the policies of the future, in which there would be consensus of all the domains. The charter satisfied almost all. The charter should change in all political, economy, social systems and culture. There was a ritual ceremony in which the Charter Oath was presented by both Emperor Meiji and the members of the government. The leaders hoped that this would be a new mode for Japan, which they called the “Unity of Rites and Rule”.

Japan
Japan could not maintain its policy of isolation and had to open it’s doors to the rest of the world. This was because: The world economy was more dependant on trading, Japan had already harmed the Ainu people, more European countries wanted to trade with Japan, the European’s were becoming too powerful, the United States were threatening Japan, they were already exposed to new philosophies of the west, many Bakufu already secretly visited the western countries, and lastly the enemies of the shogun and the bakufu used the civil unrest to make treaties to their advantage.

Economy