HIST 0430 notes Lecture 6 2 19 14 page 1 Charter Oath and Progress in the Early Meiji Period 1868 1890 1 assemblies public discussion a 1874 Hagaki Taisuke founds People s Rights Movement i wanted representative government b 1879 1881 high point of PRM c silk 42 of exports in early Meiji d 1881 government emperor promises assembly PRM fizzles out e 1881 Liberal Jiyuto 1882 Kaishinto Progress modeled after British Parliament first political parties i ii die in 1884 f newspapers censored but not foreign ones treaty ports rules 2 all classes participate a 1875 1877 rebellions largely in south Japan Satsuma Saga led by disenchanted samurai i ii iii suppressed by government new military b only significant property allowed to vote c government ruled by oligarchs 3 economic vocational freedom a on paper easy to move up b education conscription c Fukuzawa Yukichi Shibuzama Eiichi d zaibatsu monopolies e 1880s Matsukata stopped inflation created deflation i prices in 1884 were of 1880 crushing for farmers fukoku kyohei rich country strong military f g 1900 Public Order Police Law made it hard to organize 4 evil customs of past a classification of evil customs b laws killing Christians customs topknots education religion i new schools hiring foreigners instead of Buddhists 5 seek knowledge a translating literature scholarly works i Meiji Six Journal publish articles debating issues ii before censorship b send study abroad students i 1868 1875 over 500 students sent c hire foreign employees looked to foreigners already in treaty ports for training i study abroad was taking too long ii iii oyatoi gaikokujin hired hand iv 1874 1875 high points for government employed foreigners v private employers existed but not important until later vi 1871 94 railroad employees foreigners Treaty reform Japanese legal civil codes approved by West 1 2 required foreign judges to preside in foreigners trails along with HIST 0430 notes Lecture 6 2 19 14 page 2 rejected by Europeans at first because o extraterritoriality o tariff controls 2 stipulations Japanese judges popular revolts against attempted treaty reform o cabinet resigns not talked about until 1894 Constitution 1889 very conservative elements modeled after Prussian constitution of 1850s old emperor s rescripts trumps everything but budget Genro elderly statesman lots of influence decided PM until 1920s extraconstitutional advisory group Diet established upper and lower houses can write pass laws can approve reject budget and do so often