The Opium Wars and Modernization of China Because of economical, social, and political effects still seen today, the Opium Wars were successful in the westernization of China. They successfully opened trading with others and forced the country to be exposed fully to the countries of the west. In the late 18th century, Great Britain was making a huge profit off of trading the drug opium with Chinese silver. Opium was banned in Britain, but was eventually traded by loopholes and smuggling. In China, it was used for traditional medicines. As time went on, the Chinese had become addicted to the drug. Not only was this trade depleting the silver of China, but it was disrupting the health of the people. Therefore, Chinese rulers came together …show more content…
Lin Zexu even sent a concerning and passionate letter to Queen Victoria to explain that China had the right to ban opium because Britain had a ban too. In his letter, he said, “Let your highness immediately, upon the receipt of this communication, inform us promptly of the state of matters, and of the measure you are pursuing utterly to put a stop to the opium evil.” His letter never reached the Queen, and his efforts eventually led to the clash of British and Chinese ships a year …show more content…
The treaty claimed that Beijing would become a British territory, China would open up all of its ports to British ships, and they would have to see the British as equals and grant them favorable trading status. It didn’t take long, however, for the second Opium War to break out. The Chinese were swiftly defeated again, and even worse than the last time. The Chinese suffered defeat after defeat. Finally, the new treaty to end the wars made China legalize Christianity and opium, send indentured servants to the U.S., and pay eight million silver dollars for
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.
Before the emergence of silver, Chinese society isolated themselves from the global economy. Due to Confucian teachings and heavy voyage expenditures, Chinese officials restricted foreign interaction and trade. Also, being
There were many problems with the system of trade in China; even before opium trading began. China, believing herself to be the most civilized and advanced country, did not feel the need to satisfy Britain, a “barbarian” country’s request for freer trade and were concerned the British wanted land. Britain however, had no desire for land and only wished to trade, believing it was their right to do so. These misunderstandings and differing opinions were only the start of more to come. They set the foundations to the British and Chinese hostilities.
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.
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 the British and the Chinese prove that there was real awareness of the depth of the opium problem.
There have been many different types of ordinances and laws that have been put into place to limit the use of either drugs or alcohol targeting minority groups in particular such as the Temperance Movement targeting African-Americans or even the San Francisco Opium Parlors city ordinance. The Temperance Movement was put in place to limit and regulate alcohol consumption. In the year of 1875 in the city of San Francisco, there were more than eight opium parlors within three city blocks of city hall; this would eventually lead to the first ordinance of its kind. The efforts of both the Temperance Movement and that between state and local levels of government who sought to control the use of opium amongst the Chinese could be defined as racially motivated.
The numerous ports opened to foreign trade by the Treaties of Nanking and Tientsin had caused the tea exports to increase by over 500% and silk exports to rise to 28 times the previous amount of bales being shipped. However, whilst the tea and silk industries flourished, other industries became less profitable, causing food farmers to switch to tea or silk consequently, causing food prices to rise severely. Another result of the opening of more ports to the West was the majority of trade shifting from Canton to Shanghai, resulting in unemployment for the boatmen who had previously transported tea and silk throughout the regions of Canton. Furthermore, many textile workers also lost their jobs as their handmade textile products could not compete with the machine-made textiles from the West China’s economy was reshaped by the Opium Wars as it gave the country an urban market economy, however, in the process, nearly destroying the economy already in place. Qing China’s economy was changed by foreign imperialism during the 1800s and this hugely impacted the Qing Dynasty by changing the system into a more westernised
There was a steady increase of opium exports even after China banned the highly addictive drug prior to the Opium Wars, this demonstrates imperialism by the greed and need for economic gain by still enforcing trade after a law was imposed for them not to, this can be seen in fifth document, a bar graph titled "British Opium Exports to China". The British simply cared about their imperialistic ways and had no regards for the Chinese and their wishes for the Opium trading to cease. Prior to the formal exports of opium, Britain saw that China did not like the trading of it and continued to smuggle it even after China officially banned it, due to the fact that opium was a highly addictive drug. This then led to the Opium wars, another example of imperialism connecting to industrialization and modernization. Britain has limited resources due to its inconvenient placement geographically speaking, it is an island nation. So therefore, Britain used a nation with better resources and location placement, China. They made them sign an unfair treaty, the Treaty of Nanjing. This treaty further helped Britain imperialistically, due to the geographically centered terms of the treaty, they had better access to ports, complete control of a main city in China, and "fair"
In the 17th century, China implemented the Canton system. At first, foreigners were allowed to trade both in Canton (otherwise known as Guangzhou) and other ports. This was under the condition that the would have a security merchant to vouch for their behavior (Wills 2006). However, when the English decided to trade in Ningbo to get around having to have a security merchant, the Chinese government closed all ports except for Canton and implemented what is now known as the Cohong system, the system most closely associated with the Canton system (Wills 2006). This system maintained that trade could only be done with those merchants licensed by the government. Therefore, in this period, the Cohong had a monopoly over foreign trade. Although foreigners wanted China to open its ports, the truth was that China really didn't need foreign trade. As quoted by Michael Greenburg in British Trade and the Opening of China, “Had the entire foreign trade of China suddenly ceased in 1877, the economic life of the country would have been affected but very little.” This was due to China's self sufficient economy based on agriculture. The British found this lack of concern for international trade vexing, and according to Greenburg, “[attributed] the obnoxious restrictive ...
The British wanted to increase the west influence in China, and shake it up from its ideal that it was the most important country in the world. The objective was to make China recognize the equality among other countries, such as England, France, Russia and USA. (Alexander, 1896). Some of the treaties made after the Opium Wars were abolished during World War II, when China became a member in the Security Council of the UN. It was complete with the return of Hong Kong in 1997.
Allingham,, Philip V. "England and China: The Opium Wars, 1839-60." The Victorian Web: An Overview. 24 June 2006. Web. 06 Apr. 2011.
The imperial realms of East Asia before the 19th century were largely based on the theory that Asian countries were far better than their neighbors in the West. The nonchalant manner portrayed by East Asian countries towards western technology and culture led China to become unknowledgeable of the Western empires. As a result, China was astonishingly impacted by imperialism from Great Britain during the 1800’s. During the 18th century Great Britain had set up trade off the coast of the Chinese borders to trade British silver for China’s soft silks, fine porcelain, and strong teas. During this period Qing officials overlooked the foreign brokers. By the early 1800’s, however, Great Britain b...
"1750-1919: China and the West: Imperialism, Opium, and Self-Strengthening (1800-1921)." Afe.easia.columbia.edu. Columbia University, 2009. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.
The geography of China was something like a fence. This isolation made the people of China feel like their country was prestigious and secluded from the rest of the world. With deserts and the Himalayas running along most of the border, it was extremely difficult to cross over one of the most dangerous mountain ranges in the world and a few other scorching deserts with the little transport they had during that time. The only way merchants could come into the country was the southeastern coast of China where most of the prosper cities resided. What led China to become conceited was because they had an abundant of goods that most of the world wanted. In 1760-1830s, China was famous for its porcelain (rich Europeans loved it), silk, and of course, tea. Since this Eastern Powerhouse’s goods were so popular, therefore, there were only a few things that interested them to trade with. It seemed as if tea was a drug for the Europeans because for them it was just so addicting, to the point they would do anything just to get more and more. The only things that were worthy for trading with the Chinese were gingko (type of plant), shark fin, a soft type of wood (used for incense) and silver. As the demand for tea rose, Britain gradually ran out of silver to trade with, and was desperate to find what China wanted. Then, the British resorted to trading opium. China was very picky of their opium. There was a certain kind of make they wanted, it was a compact ball wr...
To the normal Chinese man during the early 19th century, opium was nothing more than a luxury that only those of higher power or influence could indulge themselves in. Yet by the middle of the 19th century opium had become a commodity that everyone could have and that at the same time they seemed to need. Even though it was now such a big part of the normal chinese culture, it did not benefit the people nor Chinese culture, it did not benefit the people or the government. The only benefit it did seem to have was towards the British. The British were flourishing from the new Chinese market for opium, where the Chinese were beginning to turn into addicts of a drug that was slowly poisoning their way of life. The people no longer were concerned about their advancement and safety of their family but about how and when they would be able to get more opium. The Chinese government was not pleased about this and decided to take a stand that would, in the long run, only damage the very people they were trying to protect. This stand came to be known as the First Opium War (1839-1842). By the end of the First Opium War China had begun to lose its sense of identity through the use of treaties and encroachment of foreign countries, starting with the British and their Treaty of Nanking.