Imperialism is defined as relationships that are unequal between two humans or territories. This is usually based on concepts of authority and the articulation of dominance over a particular territory. It comprises of the extension of control and regulation of one state over another nation. The British has been known to be a colonial power that has always practiced dominance over many states particularly in Africa. The British Empire is seen as one of the largest empires in both the past and current times. This is because it has many African and Asian colonies compared to the rest of the Empires. The empire was known to use force to subdue the states that it ended to subdue. The colonial power is seen to force its colonies to adopt certain policies that were favoring the British Empire at the cost of its colonies. It makes rules, policies and redraws boundaries, which collectively change these countries to suit the British Empire. Collectively these strategies made the empire the largest in the world with no threat of global dominion. It is believed that the British Empire accomplished its position through imperialism. This is by forcing its subject to adopt policies and engaging in wars to manipulate a country or colonial power. The opium wars are seen as an example of the imperialism of the British Empire. It also illuminates how the British Empire managed to become the largest colonial power.
The opium wars are two wars that were between the Britain and Chinese. The British was against the Chinese back in the nineteen century with the intention to stop the Chinese government from growing influx of opium . “The first war took place in 1839 and ended in 1842. It was seen as the Chinese attempt to resist the Britain free trade pra...
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... nature is demonstrated by British imposition of free trade on the Chinese territories. The two wars brought up the signing of treaties, which reduced the import duty and removed trade barriers that had earlier been imposed by the Chinese to protect the country’s economy.
References
Cunynghame, A.A.The Opium War; being recollections of service in China. Philadelphia: G. B. Zieber & co. printed sources. 1845.
Fay, Peter W. Opium War, 1840-1842: Barbarians in the Celestial Empire in the Early Part of the Nineteenth Century and the War by Which They Forced Her Gates. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1975.
Parker, Edward H. Chinese account of the Opium War. Shanghai: Kelly & Walsh, 1888.
Polachek, James M. The Inner Opium War. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 1991.
Waley, Arthur. The Opium War Through Chinese Eyes. New York: Macmillian, 1958.
Sara Rose begins her story For All the Tea in China by saying, “There was a time when maps of the world were redrawn in the name of plants, when two empires, Britain and China, went to war over two flowers: the poppy and the camellia.”(Prologue). The purpose of this book is to explain the growing tensions between Britain and China and how that tension then shaped the world. Sarah Rose stresses the importance of the opium and tea trade to the British Empire in this story. When the Chinese began the process to stop the sale of the opium to its citizens and closed the port of Canton to the India Tea Company, the British reacted with anger. They then decided it might would be a smart business move to create a source
Perdue, Peter C. "The First Opium War: The Anglo-Chinese War of 1839-1842: Hostilities." MIT: Visualizing Cultures. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2011. Web. 25 Jan. 2014.
These competition from those sources led to the East India Company to lower their prices increasing their exports from territories that were under their control as a strategy for winning a greater market expansion. The conditions to trade the opium at Canton had a big evolution. The western traders continued carrying opium to their own companies at the south of Canton, Whampoa to make the transfer to the Chinese buyers. After the Jiaqing imperial prohibition of 1796, the traders preferred to payed a bribe instead of paying the former custom duties. Opium had a really big global significance because opium was not a smuggling trade but it definitely had the biggest commerce of the time in any other single commodity. The opium had a really important role in the establishment of the western trading firms in Asia. The British victory in the opium war did not bring actually the legalization of opium because technically it remained illegal. In the arrow war, also known as the second war of opium, The Qing agreed to legalize the importation of the opium to China under the trade articles that were added to the treaty of 1858. Chinese domestic cultivation opium expanded a lot in those years after remaining illegal for three decades after 1860 until the domestically production was made legal
Opium had first arrived in London as a new medicinal trade product. It was new, compact, easily transported, and non-perishable. Trade with China proved very profitable and flourished for more than twenty years uninterrupted, until in 1835 China passed its first laws prohibiting the importation of opium (1). In the years following this prohibition, England responded simply by shifting the drop off points to other ports in China. China resisted these efforts, by England, to continue trade and began attacking their ships. These acts were seen as aggressive in the eyes of the English and the first opium war resulted. The war ended with the treaty of Nanking, which ceded China to Britain. The second opium war between 1856 and 1858 ended with the treaty of Tientsin (2). These two wars were prime examples of commercial imperialism, not only through the opening of treaty ports but through British control of Chinese customs which the 1842 treaty established, and continuing opium trade without restraint (3). All these acts on the part of British and the Chinese prove that there was real awareness of the depth of the opium problem.
Although the First Opium War proves that this letter was unsuccessful, this letter has significance because unlike most countries and disputes, the Chinese did whatever they could to ensure that this matter had a peaceful resolution. This letter shows that the Chinese practice of Confucianism has helped them evolve as an already self sufficient country into a favored and sanctioned country for their reasonable ways.
One of the most important aspects of imperialism is the take over of government. The English accomplished this in several ways. Some of the “Unfair Treaties” forced the Chinese to allow the English ships into their ports and to allow them to have a major role in the trade market. The English wanted tea, porcelain, and silk from china. The Chinese however didn’t want to gods the English offered in return. The English began trading opium in return for the goods. Although it was illegal, many of the money hungry merchants excepted the opium in return for the things that were valuable to the English. Because of this, the first Anglo-Chinese war erupted. China underestimated the power of England and was defeated. At the end of the war, they were forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing (1842). The treaty was one of the first treaties known as the “Unfair Treaties.” Under this treaty, china gave up the island of Hong Kong, abolished the licensed monopoly system of trade, granted English nationals exemption from Chinese laws, and agreed to give England whatever trading concessions that were granted to other countries then and later.
There is a point of time in certain a country’s history where they become dominant and more powerful than ever before. During this elongated process a country becomes an empire. The British and the Ottomans were states that succeeded in this process, but becoming an empire such as theirs required vast amounts of political and social maneuvering to expand their boundaries, called imperialism. Imperialism is, “a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force”. By becoming a modern nation enjoying economic prosperity and political stability, the British and the Ottomans created an imperialistic impact over the globe with distinctive motivations and approaches especially during the transition period of gaining ample amount power and influence globally.
Opium was first used mainly for medical purposes before the 17th century, the transition from a recreational drug was marked by the change from swallowing the compound raw, to mixing it with tobacco and smoking it (Chang 1964). Although the morphine component...
When it comes to imperialism, probably nothing else pops up into one’s mind so readily as the British Empire. Imperialism is by definition, according to Dictionary.com, the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies. British colonization is kind of like the elephant in the room when it comes to world history of the last few centuries. As they say, the sun never set on the British Empire, since British imperialism expanded into Asia, Africa, Australia, the Americas, and really just about anywhere that was able to provide something for the British. Wherever the British went, they brought many problems along with them for the natives. Two of the
Mitchener, Kris, J. "Politics and trade: evidence from the age of imperialism." Voxeu.org. CEPR, 11 April 2008. Web. 30 November 2013.
Allingham,, Philip V. "England and China: The Opium Wars, 1839-60." The Victorian Web: An Overview. 24 June 2006. Web. 06 Apr. 2011.
Imperialism is the domination of a weaker country by a stronger country. For instance Britain dominated India and China in the mid 1880s to the beginning of the 20th century. Imperialism has had both a positive and negative effects on the countries involved. Britain was imperialistic for many reasons, it could dominate because it had the technology and power to do so. They also needed land to acquire raw materials for growing markets.
Within Europe, imperialism occurred at the height of industrialization. As European countries were discovering more about the sciences and mass production benefits via industrialization, a demand and competition for more land and produce was developing, and this would create the tension needed to begin the First World War. Germany and Great Britain were two powerful European countries that had been trying to establish control in Africa and Asia, two countries that were not as strong as them, and relatively vulnerable. Due to rebellions of the native people and interferences by each other and other countries, they were not entirely successful. This lack of cooperation between European countries in the attempt to govern and control weaker states so as to use their products for trade caused tension, and finally after it built up to a certain point, war was the only option left.
Throughout the years Britain had always tried to use the Chinese markets to their advantage. This is what was seen as the biggest and only cause towards starting the First Opium War. Although the British were gaining a profit from selling their own goods to Chinese consumers, they were not making enough to counter the massive amount of spending they were doing on Chines...
Fay, Peter Ward. 1997. Opium War, 1840-1842 : Barbarians in the Celestial Empire in the Early Part of the Nineteenth Century and the War By Which They Forced Her Gates Ajar. University of North Carolina Press, 1997. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed December 4, 2011).