#  Societies of the World 43: Japan's Samurai Revolution 

 





 Semester:   Fall 

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 Year offered:  2016 

 

 

 

 D. Howell/I. Miller

 On July 8, 1853, Commodore Mathew C. Perry steamed into Japan's Edo Bay with four heavily armed U.S. Navy warships. Two were the so-called "black ships," ominously painted coal-burning steamships of the latest design. There, within view of a stunned populace, Perry issued an ultimatum: open the country to trade or face unstoppable bombardment. Thus began Japan's modern engagement with the outsdie world, a new chapter in the broader encounter between "East" and "West." Through primary resources, discussion, and lecture, this course examines Japan's rapid development from samurai-led feudalism into the world's first non-Western imperial power.