How Did Great Britain Become An Imperial Power

In the 1700s Great Britain was on the bottom of the bottom. They had less agriculture production which led to higher prices. They were falling behind Asia. In 1750, Great Britain began to look beyond itself for economic power. They began to practice mercantilism. This meant that their government was going to begin to control foreign trade to ensure that their country’s prosperity and security. The first move in becoming a major power was their play for Indian Calico. Calico had become very popular in Britain. As many turned to it instead of British made cotton. The English Cotton industry began to lose business. In an act to preserve the system, called protectionism, the importation of Indian calico was banned in 1707. England also
They had been trading silver with China but were beginning to get tired of losing their silver, so they began to look for another item to trade. After their conquest of India, they realized they could begin to trade opium with China. The Chinese had been introduced to opium by the Dutch and were hooked. The government had banned the importation to get the Opium epidemic under control, but the British saw their opportunity.
British trade policy became to force China to trade for opium rather than silver. The results would be a weaker China and a wealthier Britain. The areas in India that had once been textile production centers were forced to become opium farming areas. In the sixty years between 1820 and 1880, the imports of opium would go from five thousand chests to one hundred and five thousand chests.
Chinese push back would lead to a two-year war, which would be fought mostly at war and won by Britain. The treaty that ensued gave the British a small foothold in China. They were awarded $21 million in silver, gained control of Hong Kong, and five other ports were opened to British trade and residence. This allowed for a larger influx of opium and the further weakening of