What was the impact of the rise of the samurai on the peasantry in Japan?
a. Japanese peasants were reduced to the status of serfs bound to the land they worked.
b. The creation of the samurai created a period of great social mobility in Japan during which people rapidly moved out of the peasantry and into the class of warriors.
c. Although separated from the warriors by rigid class barriers, the peasantry achieved greater levels of personal freedom and economic prosperity.
d. Peasants who were willing to be trained could become samurai.
e. The samurai were critical to the development of a free peasantry on which the warriors depended for supplies of food and arms.
Answer: A