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The Tokugawa Shogunate

Uploaded by wendimill on Nov 03, 2011

I. Introduction.
The Tokugawa Shogunate has gone down in history as a repressive feudal police state. It is certainly true that the Tokugawa Shogunate, or Bakufu, suffered from thousands of rebellions. This paper is concerned with the reasons for these rebellions. This paper will also explore the differences in rebellions to determine if the reasons behind the rebellions varied between villages with different economic activities; specifically farming, mountain, and fishing villages, or if rebellions were based upon another division of the people than villages.
This paper shall begin by considering the Tokugawa Bakufu. The history and practices of the Tokugawa regime will be examined. These practices will then be related to the lives of the peasants that they affected.
The economy of the Tokugawa or Edo era shall also be considered. Changes in the economy throughout the period will be examined. This paper will then consider the effects that the changing economy had upon the peasant class.
Finally, this paper will consider some of the many rebellions, or Ikki, that occurred during the Tokugawa Dynasty’s rule. The reasons for these Ikki will be examined. This paper will also determine the population base of the rebellions to determine if they occurred among particular villages with particular economic orientations, or if the rebellions had a base other than the village.

II. The Tokugawa Bakufu.
The Tokugawa period began in either 1600 when Tokugawa Ieyasu consolidated his control of Japan at the battle of Sekigahara, or in 1603,when he assumed the title of Shogun (Reischauer, p. 67.) The Tokugawa Shogunate continued to rule Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1869 (Morton, p.149).
Ieyasu built on the successes of his two predecessors; Oda Nobunaga and Hideyoshi. Oda Nobunaga conquered the central region of Japan before his assassination in 1582. His work of unifying Japan was continued by one of his generals, Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi was lowborn and had risen through the ranks by virtue of his ability. By 1590, he had unified all of Japan (Reischaur, p.66).
Hideyoshi died in 1598, leaving an infant heir. Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of five protectors of Hideyoshi’s son, took advantage of this situation and became the most powerful man in Japan. Ieyasu removed the last opposition to his rule in 1615 when he destroyed those who were still loyal to Hideyoshi’s son. Unlike either of his predecessors, Ieyasu was able to...

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Uploaded by:   wendimill

Date:   11/03/2011

Category:   History

Length:   16 pages (3,513 words)

Views:   2149

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