What factors led to the decline of the Tokugawa government?

Both internal and external factors led to the decline of
the Tokugawa dynasty. By the nineteenth century, crop failure, high taxes, and
exorbitant taxation created immense hardship. Many people starved as a result. Many
farmers were forced to sell their land and become tenant farmers. In the cities, the
price of rice and other commodities was so high that the poor had to go hungry. The
Samurai and daimyo class suffered also, as they fell into debt. Rather than relieve the
plight of the poor, the Tokugawa government, the bafuku, cancelled
debts owed by the Samurai and daimyo, abolished a number of trade guilds, and compelled
the peasants in the cities to return to the countryside and become
farmers.

Additionally, Japan had attempted to isolate
itself from the rest of the world, with only a few Dutch ships allowed to dock and trade
there. Others were crucified as a warning to stay way. However, in 1853, Commodore
Matthew Perry arrived with an American fleet, trained his guns on Tokyo, and demanded a
"treaty of friendship" and trading rights. Since the buildings in Tokyo were made of
paper and the American forces superior, the Shogun had no choice but to agree. The
British, Russians and Dutch soon won similar treaties, all of which were quite unequal
and disadvantageous to the Japanese government. The Emperor and conservative daimyo
questioned the right of the Shogun to rule as the "subduer of the barbarian," and the
cry to "preserve the Emperor, expel the barbarians" was soon heard in the streets. A
brief civil war broke out, but the Tokugawa dynasty was doomed. In 1868 the Shogun
resigned and the boy Emperor, Mitsuhito, known by his reign name of Meiji ("enlightened
rule") became ruler of the country. This was the Meiji
restoration.