板垣退助
Western philosophers such as John Stuart Mills aroused "the spirit of enterprise" among the public with doctrines on the natural and inherent rights of man. Political protest was essential to the independent spirit. As freedom propagandist Ueki Emori argued in 1879, "[Nature] endows men with freedom. If people do not take this natural endowment, it is both a great sin against nature and a great disgrace to themselves." Chiba Takusaburō, along with powerful figures such as Itagaki Taisuke, is emblematic of the "grass roots" philosophy. Chiba's vision of a free Japan deconstructed the traditions of the lower class, and became the driving force of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement.