1. Leaders of the Meiji Restoration
and American Revolution

2. Benjamin Franklin
Fukuzawa Yukichi

3. Benjamin Franklin
• Born in Boston, MA in 1705
• Publisher, Scientist, Inventor
Entrepreneur, Political
Theorist, Statesman, Diplomat
• Delegate to Philadelphia Convention
• Signatory to Declaration of
Independence, Treaty of Paris, and U.S.
Constitution

4. Fukuzawa Yukichi
• Born 1835 in Osaka, Japan
• Author, translator, educator, newspaper editor
• Introduced first newspaper and textbooks to
Japan
• Reformed modern education in Japan

5. Franklin vs Fukuzawa
• Similarities
– Brilliant multi-talented reformers
– Innovated many civic institutions
– Laid out major philosophical framework for nation
• Differences
– Franklin directly involved in politics
– Fukuzawa focus on educational development

6. Saigo Takamori and Benedict Arnold

7. Saigo Takamori
• Born 1828 in Satsuma-han (Kagoshima-ken)
• “Last Samurai”
• Led Satsuma forces to victory in Meiji restoration
• Disgruntled with Meiji government policy
• Led Satsuma Rebellion, killed 1877

8. Benedict Arnold
• Born 1741 in Connecticut
• Early Hero in Revolutionary War
• Disappointed with lack of recognition and
compensation, switched to British Side
• Lived, retired, and died in Britain 1801
• Name is associated with “traitor”

9. Saigo vs. Arnold
• Similarities
– Both men were celebrated and influential military
leaders who later became rebels
– Both men are controversial figures in their
respective national narratives
• Differences
– Saigo rebelled for certain traditional values while
Arnold defected primarily for personal benefit
– Saigo probably enjoys more popularity in Japanese
memory today than Arnold does in America

10. Bibliography
• Source 1
• Source 2
• Source 3
• Source 4
• Source 5
• Source 6
• Source 7