How Did The Opium War Affect People's Life
Opium is the world’s most addictive component that is able to affect a person’s life positively and negatively. The opium comes from a poppy plant which can be transformed into medication that people can use as painkillers or as a drug that can be highly abused to hit euphoria. Hospitals and militaries use opium in a form called morphine which is used to treat severe pain. In order to fight effectively during battles, opium was consumed in order to withstand a great amount of pain and if a solider was to be fatally wounded, they would not feel a thing. The British grew a strong dependency for opium for that specific reason whereas China banned trading opium and cultivating it completely. Once you start abusing opium, there is no going back
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to a normal life. The Chinese thought considered the fact of smoking opium as barbaric and ceased all trading. This was one of the factors that triggered the Opium Wars. The history of opium can be traced back to the seventh century in China where it was first introduced to them as a medication by the Arabians. Later on in the 1620’s, the Portuguese had different ideas on opium. They presented opium to China as a “luxury habit”, or in other words, a drug. However, opium only affected the lives of the rich because it was very expensive to buy and was used for economic status. Things began to change when the British decided to take over India and Burma. In order to successfully take over these two countries, Britain needed an enormous amount of money. Luckily for them, China was conveniently there to aid them with the use of opium. As a financial gateway for the British, the Chinese were forced to hand-pick and produce crates to sell for high profit. As time passed, the abuse of opium as an inhalant served as a downfall for China by the 1800’s. During that time, about one third of China’s population was already addicted to the plant. The emperor of that time, Dao Guang(1821-1850), became aware of such addictions and began to raise bans against the usage and trading of opium. The abuse of opium was considered barbaric to the Chinese.
The British had different ideas about opium though. Opium was essential to their health and recreational life. The effects of the opium assisted them by giving them extra strength in order to do tedious jobs; also it makes a difference when fighting in wars. Despite the ban on the opium trade from China, the British still continued trading opium behind their backs. The British smuggled opium through the only port opened in China which is called Canton. Emperor Dao Guang appointed Lin Zexu as High Commissioner of Canton due to the fact that the number of addicts were still on the rise. After finding opium being sold by Chinese merchants, he publicly disposed the drugs in hoping that it would stop the British from continuing on with their business. The act of confiscating the opium only built up more tension which resulted in the opium war (1839-1842). The war resulted with the loss of China.
Their failure was due to the fact that Britain was more technologically advance with their weaponry. Britain considered that the purpose of the Opium war was to teach China a thing or two about free trade. After the loss, China was forced to sign a treaty that enable outside countries to trade with them. The Opium War changed opened China towards new social, political, and economic changes. As a result of the signed treaty, China created new relations with Western society. Many trades were being done; Opium was a major trading good. It gradually became cheaper due to high consumption and abuse levels. Not only did foreigners venture under the Canton System, they also found their way inside city walls. As they made their way into the city, they brought with them their Christian beliefs to the villagers and hostility towards the foreigners began to increase. Hostility resulted in major inter-racial marriages. Their army began to modernize as well as to building factories for mass production of goods. Before when there was even a war, China was in the process of establishing an urban market economy. After the war, China was widely exposed to western industries. With that being said, China had to depend on foreign trading in order to compete with other
countries.
to a normal life. The Chinese thought considered the fact of smoking opium as barbaric and ceased all trading. This was one of the factors that triggered the Opium Wars. The history of opium can be traced back to the seventh century in China where it was first introduced to them as a medication by the Arabians. Later on in the 1620’s, the Portuguese had different ideas on opium. They presented opium to China as a “luxury habit”, or in other words, a drug. However, opium only affected the lives of the rich because it was very expensive to buy and was used for economic status. Things began to change when the British decided to take over India and Burma. In order to successfully take over these two countries, Britain needed an enormous amount of money. Luckily for them, China was conveniently there to aid them with the use of opium. As a financial gateway for the British, the Chinese were forced to hand-pick and produce crates to sell for high profit. As time passed, the abuse of opium as an inhalant served as a downfall for China by the 1800’s. During that time, about one third of China’s population was already addicted to the plant. The emperor of that time, Dao Guang(1821-1850), became aware of such addictions and began to raise bans against the usage and trading of opium. The abuse of opium was considered barbaric to the Chinese.
The British had different ideas about opium though. Opium was essential to their health and recreational life. The effects of the opium assisted them by giving them extra strength in order to do tedious jobs; also it makes a difference when fighting in wars. Despite the ban on the opium trade from China, the British still continued trading opium behind their backs. The British smuggled opium through the only port opened in China which is called Canton. Emperor Dao Guang appointed Lin Zexu as High Commissioner of Canton due to the fact that the number of addicts were still on the rise. After finding opium being sold by Chinese merchants, he publicly disposed the drugs in hoping that it would stop the British from continuing on with their business. The act of confiscating the opium only built up more tension which resulted in the opium war (1839-1842). The war resulted with the loss of China.
Their failure was due to the fact that Britain was more technologically advance with their weaponry. Britain considered that the purpose of the Opium war was to teach China a thing or two about free trade. After the loss, China was forced to sign a treaty that enable outside countries to trade with them. The Opium War changed opened China towards new social, political, and economic changes. As a result of the signed treaty, China created new relations with Western society. Many trades were being done; Opium was a major trading good. It gradually became cheaper due to high consumption and abuse levels. Not only did foreigners venture under the Canton System, they also found their way inside city walls. As they made their way into the city, they brought with them their Christian beliefs to the villagers and hostility towards the foreigners began to increase. Hostility resulted in major inter-racial marriages. Their army began to modernize as well as to building factories for mass production of goods. Before when there was even a war, China was in the process of establishing an urban market economy. After the war, China was widely exposed to western industries. With that being said, China had to depend on foreign trading in order to compete with other
countries.