Historical Background: Official diplomatic relations between China and England began in 1793 when a British delegation led by Lord Macartney briefly met with Chinese Emperor Qianlong. Though trade between the two countries increased, relations deteriorated as England successfully replaced payment in silver with payment in addictive opium. This policy led to the Opium War, 1839-1842 and continued strained relations resulted in the Boxer Rebellion at the end of the century.…
"In each case the foreign powers were victorious and gained commercial privileges and legal and territorial concessions in China."(Pletcher 1). In the beginning of the book while Otter is still in China, they have multiple encounters with opium addicts and sometimes made disgruntled comments about the British for causing this. The first opium war broke out when China confiscated opium in an effort to limit and ultimately remove all opium from the country; things escalated in the days following when British sailors killed a chinese villager. This by itself wasn't too important as it was a random sailor and not a representation of the British government, but soon after the British government refused to extradite the accused. Several other events…
The initial response from the Chinese towards western penetration was the practice of isolationism. The country resisted the West and it’s modern concepts and cut off contact with them completely. This hurt the economy nations that conducted trade with them such as Britain. After the British could no longer afford to lose revenue through the Chinese’s isolation, they snuck opium into the nation. The Chinese responded by burning it and sparked the Opium War. The defeat…
American shippers took advantage of the hostilities in Europe to absorb the carrying trade between Europe and the French and Spanish islands in the West Indies. By breaking the passage with a stop in a U.S. port, they evaded seizure under the British rule of 1756, which forbade to neutrals in wartime trade that was not allowed in peacetime. In 1805, however, in the Essex Case, a British court ruled that U.S. ships breaking passage at an American port did not circumvent the prohibitions set out in the rule of 1756. As a result the seizure of American ships by Great Britain increased. In 1805 Britain seized over 200 ships alone. Then Napoleon declared a blockade of England and also began to confiscate American ships.…
The Reciprocity Treaty of 1854, also known as the Elgin-Marcy Treaty, was a trade treaty between Great Britain and the United States. It affects British land in North America including the United Province of Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, and Newfoundland .The Treaty was in effective from 1854 to 1865. It represented an act toward free trade between the countries. After the conclusion of the American Civil War,the Americans successfully terminated the treaty due to protectionist elements in 1866. Because of this, British North America wanted to form the Dominion of Canada (1867), which opened up many new economic opportunities inside Canada. Attempts by the Liberal Party of Canada to revive free trade in 1911 led to a political victory…
When China lost the first Opium war with the British they were forced to sign several “unequal treaties,” in addition they had to surrender Hong Kong. Whereas the Japanese did not get into a war with the British. This could be due to the fact that the Japanese were more open to trading with the British then the Chinese were. The Japanese in order to avoid westerm domination adopted western learning, economics, and military methods. There is also evidence to suggest that the emperor himself was personally…
While most of the Western Hemisphere was undergoing drastic advancements, such as former colonies gaining their independence and transforming into more modernized nations, a lot of mishaps were occurring in the Eastern Hemisphere—China, specifically—a nation that was notorious for its isolation from foreign influences. European nations began to greedily eye China’s abundance of desirable resources, such as tea, porcelain, and silk. However, China had very little need or desire for European goods. In an attempt to resolve the trade imbalance Britain began importing opium into China, which would prove to be disastrous for the Chinese population. The dispute over the importation of the drug eventually led to the Opium War, beginning in 1839.…
The British eventually wanted ALL of China’s resources and land, which led to Britain trading opium with China, which then led to Chinese citizens being addicted to the drug. As a result, China was basically forced into trading with Britain in order to keep…
They Chinese leaders were strictly opposed to trade on all accounts despite constant British inquiry, yet the Chinese desire for opium put a foot in the door where it could be smuggled in with high demand and provide the necessary currency to purchase Chinese tea for the British. The British got what they wanted and made major profit. After the Chinese Emperor's assault on the opium market, the British made great strides to push for free trade. Due to the potential economic harm to each country, the two massive, powerful empires went to war.…
The view of England on China and vice versa has changed completely since the first time a British emissary came into contact with China. In the beginning the relationship between the two countries were quite sincere. Lord MacCartney, a British emissary to the Chinese imperial court, commented that China was the “true representation of the highest pitch of human greatness and felicity” (3). Likewise, a British cartoonist depicts Lord MacCartney “kneeling before Chinese court” (2), hinting that the English looked at the Chinese from a positive point of view. Moving forward half a century, the replacement of silver with opium as an export to China despite the fact that the English understand “the harm caused by opium” (4), shows England’s contempt for the Chinese, opposite of what happened previously. In addition, it shows England’s focus on commercialism, as it was easier to produce opium in India than mine silver in general, as was previously done. Soon after the fact that the English had subjugated the Chinese becomes clear.. This can see seen from Lord Palmerston, a British Foreign secretary, and his letter to the Chinese government in 1840. His letter explains how the “Queen desires that Her Subjects who may go into Foreign Countries should obey the Laws of those Countries” (5), but at the same time “cannot permit that Her…
The British smuggled opium from India into China. Opium is a highly addictive drug that is obtained from the opium poppy plant. Since opium was a highly addictive drug, the British got many and most Chinese people addicted to their opium. These opium smuggles continued till 1839 because the British refused to end the opium smuggle. But, in 1839 China declared a war on the British to end the opium smuggle. This war occurred until 1842, and sadly the British won the Opium War. The British won the Opium war due to their modern navy. The British forced the China to keep their opium ports open. Due to the British China started to trade with the…
Nevertheless, despite the unequal treaty signed along with a series of other obligations and negativities on the defeat, the Opium war indeed opened the door of modern Chinese history, and is beneficial to China’s development from a different perspective. While the improvement in technology had largely improved people’s lives in Europe and spread the idea of liberty to the general population, China had yet to accept the trends of revolutions. Even though the majority of the reasons of Qing’s collapse are related to internal factors, the external forces helped stimulate the internal forces and push the country forward. Moreover, the break-out of the Opium War fostered the growth of emerging merchant class in China, which also set the foundation of self-strengthening and reform movements in later Qing. As five ports were forced to open in China after the Opium War, the foreign trade and other merchant activities became increasingly prosperous, especially in Canton and Shanghai. As China’s door was gradually opened after the Opium War, foreign technology, and more importantly, foreign ideas of democracy and liberty started to take roots in the land of China. As more and more young scholars became educated on the foreign ideas or were even sent abroad to study, further rebellions, reforms and revolutions have yet to take place. Therefore, the Opium War well…
3. British started selling Opium to the Chinese to make a profit and eventually try to gain power over them by getting the Chinese addicted. This eventually leads to the Opium War.…
The Opium War and the “Opening” of China Opium, however, changed everything. In greater and greater numbers, Chinese accustomed to tobacco began to use opium brought by Europeans. Although the Qing court banned the drug, usage spread. Seeking to trade opium for tea, the East India Company induced Indian peasants to raise opium, which could then be shipped to China. Enormous quantities of opium made their way to China, swelled by the number of merchants involved. By the 1820s, the value of opium coming into China exceeded the value of goods exported out. Thus, the Chinese had to pay silver in addition to their goods to get opium. Silver shortages began to hurt peasants. To stop the trade, the Qing emperor sent a special commissioner, Lin Zexu, who froze all legitimate trade in Canton until foreign merchants handed over their opium stores. The opium traders eventually complied, giving Lin a short-lived victory. In 1840, however, British naval ships attacked and subdued Qing forces.…
The United States of America has been conducting trade with China ever since it has had a port. One of the first ships to sail under the American flag was the Empress of China, which left the New York harbor on February 22, 1784, to become the first U.S. ship in Chinese waters when it landed in Guangzhou, China. That first voyage opened a door to both the United States and China, a door that would lead to centuries of trade, and would make both nations the largest economies in the modern world. Later, the U.S. saw China for what it was: a huge mass filled with natural resources ripe for the taking. The U.S. government knew that European nations would also have this realization. To combat the theory of chopping China up into colonies, such as…