Opium+War

Abigail Davis Rizaldo Fonacier Stephanie Young Casey Qing China Opium Trade __Opium __ A narcotic made from the unripe seedpods of a poppy plant, opium is among the most addictive drugs known today. Its popularity comes from its qualities of suppressing pain, alleviating anxiety, and inducing relaxation. It often causes users to feel a sense of euphoria as it slows down the heartbeat and suppresses the cough reflex. It also has many names, the most common being morphine, codeine, and heroin. Though opium was originally used for medicinal purposes, its dangers were well known by the 18th century. Yet even with these precautions, an opium addiction gripped China causing great moral and social problems in Chinese society.

__How it All Started __ When the British and Chinese first worked out a trade system, opium has no involvement whatsoever. The British traded for silk and tea and porcelain but it soon became apparent that China had no use for the British wools and other foreign exports. So, to offset their import bills, the British brought huge amounts of gold and silver from the New World. Then their New World mines began yielding less and less but the British still needed the Chinese trade. That is when Great Britain turned to their colony in India who was having success trading opium. It was an instant hit in China and became key to promoting and accelerating economic growth. The International opium trade began in the 1700’s where early imports supplied 100,000 addicts. The majority of those 100,000 were bored government clerks, soldiers garrisoned at long pacified sites, and wealthy women confined to the home. The number of addicts began to increase at an alarming rate throughout China even with the government attempts to suppress the opium imports. As still more people became dependent on this dangerous drug, the Qing emperor wrote to the Queen of England to request a stop to the illegal trading of opium but the Queen denied his request. By 1835, 12 million Chinese were addicted and smoking opium. By 1838, a whole 1% of China was hooked. The addiction levels with the country became so alarming that in 1839 China took a stand.

__The Opium War __ This “war that trade created” was fought at sea between the Chinese and British. During the war the British smuggled over 8 million pounds of opium into China. But the Chinese were not oblivious. Chinese government commissioner, Lin Zexu, confiscated and destroyed nearly 20,000 chests of opium which lead him to order the Canton blockade. However, the Chinese navy and army were no match for the superior naval technology of Great Britain. After a long fought battle, the Chinese lost the war to the British and in so doing lost tariff autonomy, a large indemnity, and the right to subject foreign residents. The Chinese had held out for three years when in 1842, they signed a peace agreement with the British called the Treaty of Nanjing.

__The Treaty of Nanjing __ This 14 year treaty was the first of what the Chinese named the “unequal treaties” because of their neglect to benefit the people of China in any way. This treaty only benefitted the British with no tariffs and the overseeing of Chinese trade and customs. The Chinese were also forced to cede control of the island of Hong Kong, allow European ambassadors into the Qing Dynasty court, and open five British ports that were open solely to British residence and trade.

__British China __ After the Treaty of Nanjing, China entered a century of social unhappiness, unstable agriculture, ethnic tension, government corruption, and foreign intrusion which all led up to the outbreak of civil war. Much to Great Britain’s disappointment, general trade dropped after 1846 even though the amount of opium had doubled 30 years after the treaty. The use of opium had hit record amounts with about 40 million addicts by 1900. Then, in 1911, the last emperor was forced to give up his power and China fell into disrepair.

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