End of the Samurai - Black Ships - Japanese History - Extra History - Part 1

📜 History of the End of the Samurai: Black Ships - The end of the samurai came as Japan was forced to open its borders to foreign trade and policy, ending a long period of isolation. And that period flipped everything over. Suddenly merchants who had the least amount of social standing found themselves with a huge monetary advantage. New districts with theater and arts rose that paid no heed to the old caste system. And this did not sit well with a faction of the samurai. It's called the Bloodless Revolution by history, but this series will show... it was anything but.

*Miss an episode in our End of the Samurai Series?*

#ExtraHistory #Samurai #History

[harrisonlee]

I'm sure Japan going through massive change at every level from governmental to cultural won't cause any problems later on in the 20th century.

[Wolfiyeethegranddukecerberus]

They deadass sent them their *own* surrender flag, they were that confident they'd win

[CSGhostAnimation]

Choshu and Statsuma hated this. "This sucks" They said. "THAT SUCKS!"

[breedlove]

"The truth is...the game was rigged from the start" -Matthew Perry

[HSMiyamoto]

A few interesting details:

The Americans grossly underestimated how much the Shogun knew about the outside world, which is demonstrated by the letters from Fillmore and Perry. In fact, the Shogun had a subscription to the London Illustrated News, so he knew all about both the U.S.A. and western technology. I used this history in my ethnic studies classes to illustrate "contact" between advanced and less advanced civilizations.

The Japanese initially tried to make Perry leave by putting up a big sign written in French, because apparently no one knew English.

The Shogunate held the negotiations in a special pavilion with a false floor, crowded with samurai ready to climb out and slice up the U.S. delegation at a single signal.

[ferrousoxcide]

Shout out to Ahmed Ziad Turk. Dude, you have been a patron for forever... as a lowly poor viewer. thankyou.

[ghostofury]

hey boss how do you want to "celebrate" 4th of july?
*fire blanks at the nearby town and give them a massive scare*

[TheManFromWaco]

Hideyoshi wasn’t Shogun, he only gained the title of “Regent” due to a lack of any Minamoto blood. To be fair, Tokugawa Ieyasu didn’t have any either, but after Sekigahara nobody felt like arguing the point.

[intrepid]

"Satsuma and Choshu hated this. 'This sucks!', they said. 'This sucks!'".

[fireaza]

Despite what you might think, Matthew Perry is actually a beloved historical figure in Japan. There's multiple statues of the guy around the country and he and his black ships make frequent appearances in Japanese media, usually with a light-hearted tone. Obviously, the country wasn't too pleased when he rocked up and started pointing cannons at people, but it's thanks to him that the restrictive cast system was abolished and Japan became very wealthy thanks to trade with foreign countries.

[wattambor]

Missed the opportunity to call the series ‘Fall of the Samurai’

[biohazard]

I've always been fascinated by the hypothetical of what if Japan hadn't closed itself off from the rest of the world during the Sengoku Jidai. They almost certainly had the capability of being an economic superpower if not militarily.

[dovahkiin]

"strangers have come to our shores, they bring with them weapons of smoke and fire that kill without honor... without skill, yet these foreigners and their weapons can give a man power and victory and victory whips away all dishonor"

[somerandomguy___]

As a fictional character once said “I have been looking forward to this”

[dead-ishchannel]

What the hell is this? No mention of the epic baseball match between the ship crew, locals, a ronin, some swordsman, and a young woman?

Jk, nice video

[Armphid]

This is a very wild and strange period of Japanese history, and one where local sources are often very suspect in terms of thoroughness of information. Looking forward to this series!

[divinityd]

"Open the country. Stop havingitbeclosed."

[AnarchHive]

Extra Credits: **Mentions their series on the Sengoku Jidai**
EC:"... Hideyoshi's desastrous invasion of Korea..."
EC: **Doesn't mention they also sorta covered the Imjin War**
Yi Sun Shin: *WEAK*

[cjgemini]

I’m definitely going to enjoy this series as in my history class we just finished covering the Meiji restoration, our teacher had a lecturer from UNC Chapel Hill come talk about this unique story of modernization.

I’d argue the thesis point of it being a violent change in power though. At least as far as the key way the changing of hands in power went. I would even argue that for the most part it was a clean exchange with relatively few deaths and uprisings. Which I’m sure you guys know, being that it’s called a restoration and not a revolution for it’s largely bloodless and fast modernization story. At least until that trip for tech abroad led to them become imperial :o sorry that’s a spoiler.

Thanks for all the hours of entertainment Matt and crew. You guys save some people from some bad times.

And on the off chance one of the crew is reading this, I have donated and plan to more when I have a real income!

To anyone else who thinks donating is dumb for free content. These guys have probably given you hours of entertainment, for me probably over a hundred, however long all of their videos are. Give them the metrics they deserve with a like and throw them a donation.

These guys are keeping an interest in history alive in people of all ages, while trying to keep a global lens and not push any biases or specific cultural lenses onto the history examined. That is rare, and important work. Throw them some cash if you have a few dollars to spare and aren’t worried about bills.

[elcompagenito]

*KNOCK KNOCK, ITS THE UNITED STATES.*
*WITH HUGE BOATS, WITH GUNS, GUN BOATS*