In plain English: D2.His.2.6-8 is the C3 Framework history indicator for grades 6-8 that asks students to classify a series of historical events and developments as examples of change, continuity, or both. Students compare each event with what came before it and sort it, as with Japan from 1639 to 1890, when railways and a constitution arrived while many old ways carried on.
Classify series of historical events and developments as examples of change and/or continuity.
C3 Framework for Social Studies (NCSS) · Dimension 2: Applying Disciplinary Concepts and Tools · Discipline: History · Change, Continuity, and Context · Official standard
Students learn to sort historical events into three groups. A change is something that became different from what came before. A continuity is something that stayed the same, or carried on, while other things changed. Some events are both: a new thing arrives, but part of the old way stays inside it. That is why the standard says "change and/or continuity." Before sorting, students always ask one question: compared with what, and when?
The series of events comes from Japan between 1639 and 1890. For about two hundred years Japan kept most foreigners out. American ships arrived in 1853, and in 1868 the emperor gained formal control of the country. In the years that followed, Japan opened its first railway, adopted parts of the European calendar and received a written constitution, while many older customs carried on. The sources are a short history by the U.S. State Department's Office of the Historian, an 1894 history of Japan by David Murray, who had been an adviser to Japan's Minister of Education, and a letter by the traveler Isabella Bird, who rode the new railway in 1878.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Define change and continuity, and explain why one event can show both
Name the "before" that an event is compared with when classifying it
Classify a series of events in Japan from 1639 to 1890 as change, continuity or both, with evidence from the sources
Put events in time order and explain how a series can include changes and continuities at the same time
Prior Knowledge Required
Students should already be comfortable with:
Citing specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources RH.6-8.1
Reading a timeline with years before and after a given date
Finding Japan, the Pacific Ocean and the United States on a world map
"Think about how your family celebrates a holiday or birthday now and how it did when you were five. Write one thing that changed, one thing that stayed the same, and one thing that is new but still has something old inside it."
Take a few answers and write the three words on the board: change, continuity and both. Point out that every answer needed a "before": students compared now with age five. Historians do the same. Before they call something a change, they name what it is being compared with. A series of events is a set of events in time order, and the lesson's task is to sort a series one event at a time.
Direct Instruction20 minutes
Part 1: The sorting rule. Show Diagram 1, a timeline of the series. For each event, students ask three questions: What was it like before? What was it like after? Did anything old carry on? If something new replaced the old, it is a change. If something old kept going, it is a continuity. If both happened at once, it is both. A long stretch with no change, such as Japan's two centuries of limited contact with foreigners, is also a continuity.
Part 2: Key words. The emperor was Japan's monarch. The shogun was a military ruler, and the Tokugawa Shogunate was the government led by shoguns of the Tokugawa family.
Part 3: Read Source 1. It is a secondary source, written by the Office of the Historian of the U.S. Department of State long after the events. Gloss "provisioning" (supplying with food) and "figurehead" (a leader in name only). Model the first worked example, then read Source 2 and model the second. Murray gives the emperor's oath "in substance," meaning he gives its meaning, not a word-for-word translation.
1Although he is often credited with opening Japan to the western world, Perry was not the first westerner to visit the islands. Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch traders engaged in regular trade with Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries. Persistent attempts by the Europeans to convert the Japanese to Catholicism and their tendency to engage in unfair trading practices led Japan to expel most foreigners in 1639. For the two centuries that followed, Japan limited trade access to Dutch and Chinese ships with special charters.
[...]
2[...] By addressing the letter to the Emperor, the United States demonstrated its lack of knowledge about the Japanese government and society. At that time, the Japanese emperor was little more than a figurehead, and the true leadership of Japan was in the hands of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
3[...] At the same time, Perry brought along a variety of gifts for the Japanese Emperor, including a working model of a steam locomotive, a telescope, a telegraph, and a variety of wines and liquors from the West, all intended to impress upon the Japanese the superiority of Western culture. [...]
4The following spring, Perry returned with an even larger squadron to receive Japan’s answer. The Japanese grudgingly agreed to Perry’s demands, and the two sides signed the Treaty of Kanagawa on March 31, 1854. According to the terms of the treaty, Japan would protect stranded seamen and open two ports for refueling and provisioning American ships: Shimoda and Hakodate. [...]
[...]
5Although Japan opened its ports to modern trade only reluctantly, once it did, it took advantage of the new access to modern technological developments. Japan’s opening to the West enabled it to modernize its military, and to rise quickly to the position of the most formidable Asian power in the Pacific. At the same time, the process by which the United States and the Western powers forced Japan into modern commercial intercourse, along with other internal factors, weakened the position of the Tokugawa Shogunate to the point that the shogun fell from power. The Emperor gained formal control of the country in the Meiji Restoration of 1868, with long-term effects for the rule and modernization of Japan.
Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, The United States and the Opening to Japan, 1853, Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations (Source 1: excerpt; cuts marked [...]) (2016). US government work (17 U.S.C. 105). Source text.
11. A deliberative assembly shall be formed, and all measures decided by public opinion.
22. The principles of social and political economics should be diligently studied by both the superior and inferior classes of our people.
33. Every one in the community shall be assisted to persevere in carrying out his will for all good purposes.
44. All the absurd usages of former times should be disregarded, and the impartiality and justice displayed in the workings of nature be adopted as the basis of action.
55. Wisdom and ability should be sought after in all quarters of the world for the purpose of firmly establishing the foundations of the empire.
6The promise in the first article to establish a deliberative assembly was watched with the greatest solicitude. And when during the same year the kogisho (parliament) was called together, great hopes were entertained of its usefulness. It was composed of persons representing each of the daimiates, who were chosen for the position by the daimyōs. It was a quiet peaceful debating society, whose function was to give advice to the imperial government.
7That it was a thoroughly conservative body is apparent from the result of its discussion upon several of the traditional customs of Japan. [...] On the proposition to abolish the wearing of swords, which was introduced and advocated by Mori Arinori, the final vote was unanimously against it in a house of 213. After a short and uneventful career the kogisho was dissolved in the autumn of the same year in which it was summoned. It had been a step, but not a very important step, in the direction of parliamentary government.
David Murray, Japan, chapter XV: the five articles of the emperor's oath and the first assembly (Source 2: excerpt; one sentence cut, marked [...]) (1894; this edition 1896). Public domain (published 1896). Source text.
Change (Source 1, paragraphs 1 and 4)
Compared with the two centuries before it, was the Treaty of Kanagawa of 1854 a change or a continuity?
Result: Before: after 1639, Japan kept most foreigners out "For the two centuries that followed" (paragraph 1). After: in 1854 Japan agreed to "open two ports for refueling and provisioning American ships: Shimoda and Hakodate" (paragraph 4). Classification: change. A treaty is a written agreement between countries.
A small change (Source 2, paragraphs 1, 6 and 7)
The emperor's oath promised an assembly. Was the assembly that met a big change?
Result: The first article promised that "A deliberative assembly shall be formed" (paragraph 1). A deliberative assembly is a group that meets to discuss and decide. The kogisho met, but it could only "give advice to the imperial government" (paragraph 6), and Murray judges it "a step, but not a very important step, in the direction of parliamentary government" (paragraph 7). Classification: change, but a small one, according to Murray.
Change with a continuity at first (Source 3, paragraph 1)
How should we classify the end of feudalism in 1871?
Result: Feudalism was a system in which lords called daimyōs ruled their own lands and kept warriors called samurai. Murray writes that "at one stroke the whole institution of feudalism" was "cut away," and prefectures (government districts) took the place of the lords' lands (paragraph 1). That is a change. But "At first the daimyōs were appointed governors of the prefectures" (paragraph 1), so the same people kept power for a time. Classification: both, a change with a continuity at first.
Both (Source 4, paragraph 2)
Bird rode the new railway in 1878. What did she see that was new, and what was old?
Result: New: a railroad "opened by the Mikado in 1872," the Mikado being the emperor. Old: the waiting rooms were "uncarpeted, however, in consideration of Japanese clogs," the wooden shoes people still wore (paragraph 2). Classification: both. The railway itself was a change; the clogs worn on it were a continuity.
Guided Practice15 minutes
Pairs read Source 3. For each paragraph they write C (change), K (continuity, using K so it is not confused with C) or B (both) in the margin, and underline the words that prove it. Gloss "hereditary" (passed down in a family), "competence" (being able to do a job well), "disdain" (looking down on something) and "Christian era" (the year count used in Europe).
1Thus at one stroke the whole institution of feudalism which had flourished from the time of Yoritomo was cut away. The government made provision for the administration by creating prefectures (ken) to take the place of daimiates. This was done in 1871. At first the daimyōs were appointed governors of the prefectures. But it was soon found that these hereditary princes were as a class utterly unfit for the chief executive offices of their old provinces. Hence, one by one other competent persons were appointed to vacancies, until it came to be understood that competence and fitness were to be the requisite qualifications for such appointments.
[...]
2To many of the samurai this summary settlement had unfortunate results. The lump sums which they received were often soon consumed, and they were left penniless and helpless. The traditions under which they had been trained led them to look down upon labor and trade with disdain, and rendered them unfit to enter successfully on the careers of modern life. In many cases worry and disappointment, and in others poverty and want, have been the sequels which have closely followed the poor and obsolete samurai.
3Several minor but noteworthy steps in reform were taken. [...] The first railway in Japan was opened between Yokohama and Tōkyō in 1872. The European calendar, so far as it regarded the beginning of the year and the beginning of the months, was adopted in 1873. The year was still counted from Jimmu Tennō, 1873 of the Christian era corresponding to 2533 of the Japanese era, and also by the Meiji year-period, the commencement of which was from 1868.
David Murray, Japan, chapter XV: the end of feudalism and the reforms of 1871-1873 (Source 3: excerpt; cuts marked [...]) (1894; this edition 1896). Public domain (published 1896). Source text.
Teacher prompts: In paragraph 2, did the samurai change, or did their ideas stay the same while their world changed? In paragraph 3, can one sentence hold a change and a continuity at once? Ask pairs to compare their margin letters and settle any disagreement with evidence, not volume.
Independent Practice15 minutes
Students read Source 4, a primary source. Isabella Bird wrote this letter in 1878 from the city officially renamed Tokyo in 1868, though Bird still heads it with the old name. Gloss "régime" (a system of government), "Restoration" (the name Bird uses for the new government that began in 1868), "kurumas" (light carts pulled by a person, used as taxis) and "termini" (the stations at the two ends of a line). Students mark each new thing Bird sees with one color of sticky note and each old thing with the other. Then they answer the quiz, which uses Sources 1-4.
1I HAVE dated my letter Yedo, according to the usage of the British Legation, but popularly the new name of Tôkiyô, or Eastern Capital, is used, Kiyôto, the Mikado’s former residence, having received the name of Saikiô, or Western Capital, though it has now no claim to be regarded as a capital at all. Yedo belongs to the old régime and the Shôgunate, Tôkiyô to the new régime and the Restoration, with their history of ten years. It would seem an incongruity to travel to Yedo by railway, but quite proper when the destination is Tôkiyô.
2The journey between the two cities is performed in an hour by an admirable, well-metalled, double-track railroad, 18 miles long, with iron bridges, neat stations, and substantial roomy termini, built by English engineers at a cost known only to Government, and opened by the Mikado in 1872. The Yokohama station is a handsome and suitable stone building, with a spacious approach, ticket-offices on our plan, roomy waiting-rooms for different classes—uncarpeted, however, in consideration of Japanese clogs—and supplied with the daily papers. [...] Except the ticket-clerks, who are Chinese, and the guards and engine-drivers, who are English, the officials are Japanese in European dress. Outside the stations, instead of cabs, there are kurumas, which carry luggage as well as people. [...] the 3d class vans are crowded with Japanese, who have taken to railroads as readily as to kurumas. [...]
Isabella L. Bird, Unbeaten Tracks in Japan, Letter III, written in Yedo (Tokyo), May 24, 1878 (Source 4: excerpt; cuts marked [...]) (1880; this edition 1911). Public domain (published 1911). Source text.
Closure5-10 minutes
Exit ticket: Choose one event from the timeline. Write what came before it, what came after it, and whether it was a change, a continuity or both, with one quotation.
Homework passage. Source 5, two more paragraphs from Murray, is used for the homework. Gloss "recant" (take back a belief), "promulgated" (officially announced), "diet" (a national assembly) and Meiji (the name of the emperor's reign, with years counted from 1868).
1The Christians chiefly lived in Urakami, a village near Nagasaki. They were said to number about four thousand. Orders were sent by the government from Tōkyō in June, 1868, that all the families who would not recant should be deported and put in the charge of daimyōs in different provinces. Only a small part of the Christians were thus exiled. The government probably dealt with greater leniency because they found the treaty powers so deeply interested. Subsequently the measures taken against the native Christians were withdrawn. In March, 1872, those who had been dispersed among the daimyōs were granted permission to return to their homes, and persecution for religious belief was ended forever.
[...]
2In further pursuance of the plan of constitutional government, the emperor, on February 11, 1889, at his palace, promulgated a constitution for his people. In the presence of his cabinet and court he took a solemn oath to govern under its limitations and powers. This constitution contains seven chapters consisting of one hundred and eleven articles: Chapter I. The Emperor; II. Rights and Duties of Subjects; III. The Imperial Diet; IV. The Ministers of State and Privy Council; V. The Judicature; VI. Finance; VII. Supplementary Rules. The emperor also announced that the imperial diet would be convoked in the twenty-third year of Meiji (1890), and that the constitution would go into effect at the date of its assembling.
David Murray, Japan, chapter XV: the Christians of Urakami and the constitution of 1889 (Source 5: two paragraphs; the pages between them left out, marked [...]) (1894; this edition 1896). Public domain (published 1896). Source text.
Teacher note on the sources: Sources 2-5 are quoted exactly as printed, with older spellings such as "Tôkiyô" and "Yedo" for Tokyo. Murray and Bird were foreign visitors writing in English, and both judge Japanese customs by the standards of their own countries. The words "absurd usages" in Source 2 are Murray's English wording of the oath's fourth article, which other translations give as "evil customs of the past"; the harsh judgment belongs to the oath as Murray renders it, not to the page, so ask students what the words show about the new government's view of older ways. The oath, known as the Charter Oath, was taken in April 1868; Murray's chapter dates it to 1869, so the page leaves his date out. The kogisho met in 1869. Source 3 omits a sentence that uses a slur for a Japanese social group, and Source 4 omits passages in which Bird describes Japanese people's appearance in insulting terms. Source 5 describes the government's treatment of Japanese Christians as Murray reports it; discuss it as history and do not ask students to judge any religion. Later histories correct Murray on two points: in 1870 the government exiled most of the Urakami community, about 3,400 people, and more than 600 died in exile; the ban on Christianity was lifted and the survivors returned in 1873, not 1872. Murray's count of "one hundred and eleven articles" is also wrong: the Meiji Constitution has 76 articles in its seven chapters. Homework Problems 1 and 2 ask what Source 5 says, so accept answers that follow Murray, and share these corrections afterward.
Differentiation Strategies
For Struggling Students
Give a three-column mat (Change, Both, Continuity) with a "Before" and "After" box at the top of each card
Read Sources 2-4 aloud in pairs and pre-teach six words with a picture or example: shogun, daimyō, samurai, prefecture, treaty, kuruma
Start with the four cards that are clearest (cards 1, 3, 6 and 8 in Activity 1) before the harder ones
For Advanced Students
Find a continuity hidden inside each of two changes in Sources 3 and 4, and explain why a quick reader might miss it
Compare the Office of the Historian (Source 1) and Murray (Sources 2-3): which writer stresses change more, and what might explain the difference?
Draw a line graph with "amount of change" on the vertical axis for 1850-1890 and defend the shape with evidence
Assessment Guidance
What to Look For
Strong work names the "before" for every event, sorts it as change, continuity or both, and quotes the words that prove it. Watch for four errors: calling every event in a busy period a change; forgetting that a long stretch with no change is a continuity; missing the old part inside a new thing; and classifying by opinion ("it was good, so it was a change") instead of by comparison with what came before.
02
Classroom Activities
3 Activities
1
Series Sort: Before, After, and Both
15 minPairs
Each pair gets 10 event cards and a mat with three columns: Change, Both, Continuity. Pairs first lay the cards in time order. Then, for each card, they write the "before" on a sticky note, place the card in a column, and write one quotation that supports the choice.
The 10 Cards
Japan expels most foreigners (1639) (Source 1, paragraph 1)
For two centuries, Japan limits trade with the outside world (1639-1853) (Source 1, paragraph 1)
Perry's ships reach Japan with a letter for the emperor (1853) (Source 1, title and paragraph 2)
The Treaty of Kanagawa opens two ports to American ships (1854) (Source 1, paragraph 4)
The emperor gains formal control of the country (1868) (Source 1, paragraph 5)
Prefectures take the place of the daimyōs' lands (1871) (Source 3, paragraph 1)
The first railway opens between Yokohama and Tokyo (1872) (Source 3, paragraph 3)
The European calendar is adopted for the start of the year and months (1873) (Source 3, paragraph 3)
Bird rides the new train from Yokohama to Tokyo (1878) (Source 4)
The emperor announces a constitution (1889) (Source 5, paragraph 2)
Notes for the Teacher
Time order: the cards are numbered in time order, so shuffle them before handing them out
Accept any column that the pair supports with a stated "before" and a quotation. The point is the reasoning, and several cards can be argued two ways
Card 2 is a stretch of time, not a single event; ask pairs what kind of example a long stretch with no change is
Card 9 is a traveler's description, not an event; ask pairs whether a description can show change and continuity together
Discussion Questions
Which column has the most cards on your mat? Did it change after you named the "before" for each card?
Pick one card in the Both column. Which part is new and which part is old?
2
The Change-over-Time Graph
15 minGroups of 3-4
Groups draw a graph on chart paper. The horizontal axis runs from 1840 to 1890 in ten-year steps. The vertical axis is "how much changed," from "very little" to "a great deal." Groups plot one point per decade and label each point with an event and a source.
Procedure
Use only events dated in Sources 1-5
Draw the line, then add one sticky note for something that stayed the same in each decade
Write a caption: "Our line rises when ___ and stays flat when ___."
What to Look For
A flat stretch for the 1840s, explained with Source 1, paragraph 1
Points tied to dated events rather than guesses
At least two continuity notes after 1868, showing that a steep line does not mean that nothing stayed the same
Discussion Questions
Where did two groups draw different shapes? Whose evidence was stronger?
Would a graph of the same years look the same for a samurai family as for a merchant? Use Source 3 to explain.
3
Old Inside the New: Gallery Walk
15-20 minPairs, then whole class
Each pair writes one "both" sentence on a sheet of chart paper using this frame: "___ was new in ___, but ___ carried on, as shown by ___ (Source, paragraph)." Sheets go on the walls, and pairs walk the room adding a check mark for sentences with strong evidence and a question mark where the "before" is missing.
Rules
No two pairs may use the same event
The quotation must come from Sources 1-5
Each sentence names a year or a decade
Debrief Questions
Which sentence surprised you most? Why?
Is it easier to find change or continuity in a history book? Why might that be?
03
Diagrams & Visual Aids
1 diagrams
Diagram 1: A Series of Events in Japan, 1845-1895
Dates come from Sources 1, 3, 4 and 5, and each dot is placed to scale by year. The arrow on the left points back to 1639, more than two centuries earlier. The Diet is the national assembly that Source 5 says would first meet in 1890. The timeline shows order only: students decide which events are changes, continuities or both.
04
Homework Assignment
~30 min
D2.His.2.6-8 Homework: Sorting the Rest of the Series
Directions: Use Source 5 (printed in the Closure phase) and Sources 1-4 from the lesson. For every classification, name the "before" you are comparing with and quote the words that prove your answer.
Part 1: Classifying New Events (Problems 1-3)
In June 1868 the government ordered that Christian families who would not give up their faith "should be deported" (Source 5, paragraph 1). Compare this order with Japan's policy of 1639 (Source 1, paragraph 1). Is the 1868 order an example of change or of continuity? Explain.
What happened in March 1872, according to Source 5, paragraph 1? Classify it as change, continuity or both, and explain what it was compared with.
Source 5, paragraph 2 describes the constitution of 1889. Name one thing in it that was a change and one thing that shows a continuity, and quote the words for each.
Part 2: Building and Judging the Series (Problems 4-6)
Source 5 says the imperial diet would meet "in the twenty-third year of Meiji (1890)," and Source 3 says the Meiji years were counted from 1868. Show that 1890 is the twenty-third year if 1868 is year one. Then find the number of years from 1639 to 1854, and say whether Source 1's phrase "two centuries" is accurate.
Make a chart of eight events from Sources 1-5 in time order. For each, write the year, C (change), K (continuity) or B (both), and a five-word reason.
Write a paragraph of 6-8 sentences answering this question: Between 1853 and 1890, did Japan change more than it stayed the same? Support your answer with at least two quotations from two different sources, and describe one piece of evidence for the other side.
Rubric
Criterion
Full Credit (2 pts)
Partial Credit (1 pt)
No Credit (0 pts)
Before and After
Names what each event is compared with and what came after
Names one side only
No comparison
Classification
Sorts each event as change, continuity or both, and explains "both" cases
Sorts correctly without explaining
Sorting missing or unsupported
Evidence
Exact quotations with source and paragraph
Evidence on the topic without a citation
No evidence
Time Order
Dates and order match the sources, and math is shown
One date or order error
Several errors
05
Quiz: 20 Questions
Interactive, with answers
Instructions
Questions 1-5, 16 and 18 use Source 1, and Questions 6, 13 and 17 use Source 2 (both in the Direct Instruction phase). Questions 7-10 use Source 3 (Guided Practice). Questions 11-12, 15 and 19 use Source 4 (Independent Practice). Questions 4, 14 and 20 use two sources. For short answers, quote the source and give the paragraph number.
Multiple choice: pick an option to check it. Short answer: write your answer, then reveal the model answer.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice
According to Source 1, paragraph 1, why did Japan expel most foreigners in 1639?
Answer: A
Source 1 says "Persistent attempts by the Europeans to convert the Japanese to Catholicism and their tendency to engage in unfair trading practices led Japan to expel most foreigners in 1639" (paragraph 1). Choices B, C and D give reasons the source does not mention.
Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice
After 1639, which foreign traders could still reach Japan, according to Source 1, paragraph 1?
Answer: C
"Japan limited trade access to Dutch and Chinese ships with special charters" (Source 1, paragraph 1). A charter is a written permission. Choice A names traders who were among those expelled. This two-hundred-year stretch is an example of continuity.
Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Who held the real leadership of Japan in 1853, according to Source 1, paragraph 2?
Answer: B
Source 1 says the emperor "was little more than a figurehead, and the true leadership of Japan was in the hands of the Tokugawa Shogunate" (paragraph 2). Choice A is the mistake the Americans made when they addressed their letter to the emperor.
Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Perry brought gifts in 1853 (Source 1, paragraph 3). Which gift is most closely linked to a change Murray reports for 1872 (Source 3, paragraph 3)?
Answer: D
Perry brought "a working model of a steam locomotive" (Source 1, paragraph 3), and Murray writes that "The first railway in Japan was opened between Yokohama and Tōkyō in 1872" (Source 3, paragraph 3). The other gifts are in Source 1, but neither source connects them to a dated change.
Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Source 1, paragraph 5 says that in 1868 "The Emperor gained formal control of the country." Compared with 1853, how should this be classified?
Answer: A
Source 1 says the opening weakened the shogunate "to the point that the shogun fell from power," and the emperor "gained formal control" (paragraph 5). The before and after are different, so it is a change. Choice C contradicts the words "fell from power."
Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In the kogisho, the proposal to abolish the wearing of swords lost: "the final vote was unanimously against it in a house of 213" (Source 2, paragraph 7). How is this vote best classified?
Answer: C
The custom of wearing swords was kept, so the vote is a continuity. "Unanimously" means every member voted the same way. Choice D is wrong because the vote was not close at all. Choice A is about the assembly, not the vote: the question asks what the vote shows.
Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Murray says that "1873 of the Christian era" corresponded to "2533 of the Japanese era" (Source 3, paragraph 3). How many more years did the Japanese count show?
Answer: B
2533 - 1873 = 660. Choice C subtracts 873 instead of 1873 (2533 - 873 = 1,660). Choices A and D are slips in the hundreds place.
Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Murray writes that the European calendar was adopted in 1873 but "The year was still counted from Jimmu Tennō" (Source 3, paragraph 3). How is the 1873 calendar reform best classified?
Answer: D
The calendar was adopted only "so far as it regarded the beginning of the year and the beginning of the months" (change), while "The year was still counted from Jimmu Tennō" (continuity). Choice A misses the word "still," and choice B misses the word "adopted."
Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice
According to Source 3, paragraph 1, what came to be required of people appointed as prefecture governors?
Answer: A
Murray says that "competence and fitness were to be the requisite qualifications for such appointments" (paragraph 1). "Requisite" means required. Choice B describes the old way, which the government gave up after the former lords proved "utterly unfit" for the job.
Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice
According to Murray in Source 3, paragraph 2, what made it hard for many samurai to start "the careers of modern life"?
Answer: C
Murray writes that "The traditions under which they had been trained led them to look down upon labor and trade with disdain" (paragraph 2). Their ideas carried on while their world changed: a continuity inside a change. Choice A is wrong because they received "lump sums."
Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In Source 4, paragraph 1, what does Bird say the name "Tôkiyô" stands for?
Answer: B
Bird writes, "Yedo belongs to the old régime and the Shôgunate, Tôkiyô to the new régime and the Restoration" (paragraph 1). Choice A describes the old name, Yedo. Choice D is wrong because the British Legation still used "Yedo."
Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice
According to Bird in Source 4, paragraph 2, who drove the trains on the Yokohama railroad in 1878?
Answer: D
Bird says that "Except the ticket-clerks, who are Chinese, and the guards and engine-drivers, who are English, the officials are Japanese in European dress" (paragraph 2). Choice A describes the other station officials, not the drivers.
Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Who chose the members of the kogisho, according to Source 2, paragraph 6?
Answer: A
The members were "persons representing each of the daimiates, who were chosen for the position by the daimyōs" (paragraph 6). A daimiate was a daimyō's domain. So a new kind of body was filled by the old ruling group, an example of both change and continuity. Choice B is wrong: the source says the daimyōs chose the members; no voting by the people is mentioned.
Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Article 5 of the oath says "Wisdom and ability should be sought after in all quarters of the world" (Source 2, paragraph 5). Which detail in Source 4 fits this promise best?
Answer: C
Bird says the railroad was "built by English engineers" (Source 4, paragraph 2), which is skill sought from another "quarter" of the world. Choice A describes a continuity of Japanese custom, not foreign skill.
Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Bird says the trip between Yokohama and Tokyo took "an hour" on a railroad "18 miles long" (Source 4, paragraph 2). What was the average speed?
Answer: B
18 miles / 1 hour = 18 miles per hour. Choice C doubles the distance as if the train went there and back, choice A misplaces the decimal point, and choice D confuses one hour with 60 miles.
Question 16 of 20 · Multiple Choice
According to Source 1, paragraph 5, what did Japan's opening to the West enable it to do?
Answer: D
Source 1 says "Japan’s opening to the West enabled it to modernize its military, and to rise quickly to the position of the most formidable Asian power in the Pacific" (paragraph 5). That is a change. Choice B reverses the paragraph, which says the shogunate was weakened "to the point that the shogun fell from power."
Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer
Article 4 of the oath says "All the absurd usages of former times should be disregarded" (Source 2, paragraph 4). Choose one event from Sources 2-4 that followed this promise and one that did not. Explain each.
Model answer: Followed the promise: feudalism was "cut away" and prefectures took the place of the daimyōs' lands in 1871 (Source 3, paragraph 1), a change from an old usage. Did not follow it: the kogisho voted "unanimously against" ending the wearing of swords (Source 2, paragraph 7), so an old custom continued. Other good pairs: the calendar of 1873 (both) or the railway of 1872 (change). Rubric: full credit for two events, each classified correctly with a quotation; partial credit for one.
Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer
Using only Source 1, describe who ruled Japan in 1639-1853, in 1853 and after 1868. For each, say whether the period shows change or continuity compared with the one before.
Model answer: From 1639 the government kept most foreigners out "For the two centuries that followed" (paragraph 1), a long continuity. In 1853 the emperor was "little more than a figurehead" and "the true leadership of Japan was in the hands of the Tokugawa Shogunate" (paragraph 2), still a continuity. In 1868 "the shogun fell from power" and "The Emperor gained formal control of the country" (paragraph 5), a change. Rubric: full credit for all three periods in order with evidence and classifications; partial credit for two.
Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer
Bird writes that "It would seem an incongruity to travel to Yedo by railway, but quite proper when the destination is Tôkiyô" (Source 4, paragraph 1). An incongruity is something that does not fit. Explain what her joke shows about change and continuity in 1878.
Model answer: Bird links the old name, Yedo, to "the old régime and the Shôgunate" and the new name, Tôkiyô, to "the new régime and the Restoration" (paragraph 1). The railway is new, so it seems to belong with the new name. The joke shows that the same city was being described in old and new ways at the same time: the British Legation still dated letters "Yedo" (continuity) while most people used the new name (change). Rubric: full credit for explaining both names with quotations and naming the change and the continuity; partial credit for one.
Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer
Choose two events from Sources 2-4 that happened within three years of each other. Classify one as a change and the other as a continuity (or both), and explain how a change and a continuity can be true in the same years.
Model answer: In 1871 prefectures replaced the daimyōs' lands (Source 3, paragraph 1), a change. In 1873 the European calendar was adopted, but "The year was still counted from Jimmu Tennō" (Source 3, paragraph 3), which is both. In the same few years, the government replaced some old institutions but kept old ways of counting years, so different parts of life changed at different speeds. Rubric: full credit for two dated events within three years, each classified with a quotation, and a sentence explaining how both can be true; partial credit for the classifications alone.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
06
Frequently Asked Questions
10 Questions
What does D2.His.2.6-8 mean?
D2.His.2.6-8 asks middle school students to sort a series of historical events and developments into examples of change, continuity, or both. It is a history indicator in Dimension 2 of the C3 Framework, under "Change, Continuity, and Context." Students show it by naming what each event is compared with and giving evidence.
What is the difference between change and continuity?
A change is something that became different; a continuity is something that stayed the same over time. Both are judged against a "before." A long period in which nothing new happens is a continuity, even if it is quiet.
Why does D2.His.2.6-8 say "change and/or continuity"?
Because one event can be both. A new thing can arrive while part of the old way carries on inside it. In this lesson, the new railway of 1872 ran through stations whose waiting rooms were left uncarpeted for the clogs that travelers still wore.
How do students decide whether something is a change or a continuity?
They compare it with what came before. Ask three questions: What was it like before? What was it like after? Did anything old carry on? The answers decide the column, not whether the event seems good or bad.
Why does this lesson use Japan from 1639 to 1890?
Because the period holds clear examples of all three kinds. Japan kept a long continuity of limited contact, then went through rapid changes after 1853 and 1868 while some customs carried on. The sources include a U.S. government history and two nineteenth-century writers.
Is D2.His.2.6-8 taught in grade 6, 7 or 8?
It can be taught in any of them. The C3 Framework sets indicators for the 6-8 band, so schools use it in world history, U.S. history or geography courses. This lesson fits a grade 7 or 8 world history unit on East Asia or on industrialization.
How does D2.His.2.6-8 connect to D2.His.2.9-12?
The high school indicator moves from classifying to analyzing. D2.His.2.9-12 asks students to analyze change and continuity across whole historical eras, explaining why some things changed and others did not.
What mistakes do students often make with change and continuity?
They often call everything in a busy period a change and miss the old ways that carried on. Some also forget to name the "before," or decide by opinion. Ask "Compared with what, and when?" every time.
Why are some passages in the sources cut?
To keep the readings short and to leave out insulting language. Every cut is marked [...], and the note under each source says what was left out, including a sentence with a slur and passages in which a traveler insults people's appearance.
How can teachers assess D2.His.2.6-8?
Give students a new series of dated events and ask them to sort each one with a reason. Score whether they name the before and after, classify correctly, explain "both" cases and quote evidence. The homework rubric uses these four criteria.
07
Related Standards
5 standards
These standards connect to D2.His.2.6-8: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.
Before this lesson
RH.6-8.1Prerequisite
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources
Standard text: National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History (Silver Spring, MD: NCSS, 2013). NCSS was not involved in the production of this lesson and does not endorse it.
