The correct answer is: The samurai and daimyo restored the emperor to power and worked to reform Japan.
Indeed, Japan had remained fiercely isolated from the rest of the world for centuries. Japan especially mistrusted Western powers sine they had better technology and were extremely aggressive and powerful. In 1853, American Commodore Matthew C. Perry, arrived with four US military, steam-powered ships which were equipped with very modern and destructive guns. The Japanese had no means to oppose him in any manner and yielded to his demands, that Japan sign an official treaty if trade and commerce with the United States. This treaty, the Convention of Kanagawa angered many of the highest-ranking samurais for whom it was seen as a capitulation. They decided that Japan was way behind Western powers and that unless they imposed radical societal, economic reforms, they would be dominated by the West. They managed to remove Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last Shogun of Japan and restored the Emperor.
Traditionalist samurais were incensed by this action and a civil war ensued, which reformist samurais were able to win with the help of Western technology and military advisors. Most power was transferred to the Emperor and Japan started massively importing technology and methods of social organization from many different countries in the west.
<span>Religion is central to Equiano's life and construction of identity. He explains what his African brethren believed, but came to embrace the idea of the Christian God after hearing about that faith while still a youth. Until he was converted, he believed that good works were most important, and so he was diligent in keeping the Commandments, only really failing to avoiding blasphemy. This God watched over mankind, and Equiano believed the the good things that happened to him were God's praise, while the bad things were rebukes to be learned from. Equiano spoke often of being favored by Providence. He also called himself a predestinarian, explaining that he believed that his life's course was already ordained, and so it was his responsibility to accept this. After a deadly and dangerous voyage to the North Pole, Equiano feels convicted and searches for faith on a deeper level. He eventually embraces Methodism and the idea of the free gift of salvation as central to the Christian message. This faith shapes and molds his life from then on. He has difficulty working with men who are irreligious, and makes ardent efforts to convert men who were not Christian. His religion allows him to enter into the European culture and establish his credentials for his readers. In essence, he makes himself more familiar and less 'other' by his embrace of Christianity. Thus, his religion is deep and personal, but it is also a way for him to become part of the cultural mainstream and more effectively disseminate his abolitionist views.</span>
Real GDP per capita for the United States is calculated by dividing real GDP by the number of people living in the country.
Property given as security for a loan
