Japan’s Samurai Revolution
HIST 31
Subject & Catalog Number
Course Information
Description
In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu became shogun, thus initiating more than two and a half centuries of rule by Japan’s hereditary warrior class, the samurai. These warriors oversaw an extended era of peace rarely paralleled in human history. Everything changed on July 8, 1853, Commodore Mathew C. Perry steamed into Edo Bay with four heavily armed US Navy warships. There, Perry issued an ultimatum: open the country to trade or face unstoppable bombardment. Thus began Japan’s modern engagement with the outside world, a new chapter in the broader encounter between “East” and “West.” Through primary sources, discussion, and lecture, this course examines Japan’s rapid development from samurai-led feudalism into the world’s first non-Western imperial power.
Course Notes
This course meets the "Beyond North America" History Concentration requirement. Former course number "Hist 1033."
Available for Harvard Cross Registration
NOTE: This course requires additional sections; you will be prompted to choose secondary components during the Add to Cart process
