Effects Of British Occupation

One of the largest groups ever to immigrate to the United States was the Chinese. In 1842 the British Empire defeated China in the first Opium War. China was forced to pay indemnities of 21 million silver dollars and open five ports to foreign commerce. As a result, peasant farmers were heavily taxed. A series of floods and crop failures in Southern China lead to poverty and famine among peasant farmers. The British were given the power to preside over the immigration of the Chinese people. Eventually 12 treaty ports were opened to Westerners and Western missionaries begin to arrive in China, paving the way for Chinese youth to receive western training abroad.

China has 5000 years of history which experienced wars, collapses, failures and successes. The Opium War in the year 1839 and 1856 marked the changing point of China’s trade policy with foreigners, especially with British in opium and tea. China changed from getting tributes to being forced to sign the Nanjing Treaty and Tianjing Treaty with British and French. Due to China’s over confidence and unwelcome attitude toward foreigners and opium, it caused the British to declare the Opium War to China which made Chinese suffer for many years, but at the same time it also forced China to open its doors to the foreigners.

While westerners in China pushed to claim rights and generally oppose Chinese reformers who worked to better China, Chinese government and society faced internal problems. Being a main target for imperialism, China faced much western influence. One of the events that marked the beginning of intense western influence was the case concerning the Opium Wars. A main imperialistic power, Great Britain, began trading China opium, a heavily addictive drug, in exchange for tea and silk. At first, it seemed like a positive idea – the Chinese

In the 19th Century British planned to invade China for economic reasons. It had no motives to conquer the state rather entice it to accept a free trade. The country was rich in tea which was in high demand not only in Britain but all over the world. China also had porcelain and silk which the Britons envied. The intruders did not have enough silver to buy the commodities thus opted for a barter system. Consequently, a war between the two states occurred. It was fought between 1848 and 1852 with China becoming unsuccessful due advanced military competence of Britons. The signing of an agreement between them then followed, and British was additionally awarded extraterritorial rights by China. However, the imperialism in China was a positive thing to the natives because it introduced trade and much education in the region which opened up opportunities.

British trade with China during the Qing dynasty from 1750 - 1900 was economically harmful for the Chinese, and the Chinese Imperial government responses were political. A document showing a Chinese citizen’s view on the events and how they played out would have helped me to better understand how it affected the people of China’s

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

During this time, the British adopted a new economic policy known as mercantilism which held that a country’s power depended mainly on its wealth. The desire for new sources of wealth inspired British exploration of the East. Having established North America as their colony, the British traveled East. In 1793, the British sought to trade with China which was largely self-sufficient due to mining and manufacturing resources as well as its healthy agricultural economy which started in the 11th century. Around this time, the Chinese dynasty cycle was in decline and its official trade policy reflected isolation. The British imposed economic imperialism and forced China to open to foreign trade and influence. The British East India Company which grew opium in India, a British colony, shipped it to China. While the Chinese developed addictions to the drug, the British economy grew as they shipped fine silk, high quality cotton and exquisite porcelain from China to be sold for a huge profit in North America. Subjected to economic imperialism, China had to sign treaties that favoured the west. In 1844, China signed a treaty that gave North America extraterritorial rights where they could trade freely at many

According to Dr. Lalvani, direct British rule led to more investments in building more roads, bridges, and railways. He also claims that both nations benefited by the trade routes and that the British help the Indians benefit from being imperialized because their railway system employs 1.6 million people. Although Dr. Lalvani makes the claim that the trains and railways are good and employs over a millions people even though the trains and railways were built in India to export all of India’s natural resources and beauty (doc 6). According to document 7, the food exports that were leaving for the British raised as India was dying of starvation. The British benefited more than the Indians because they had multiple increases in exports from India well the Indians were not allowed to sell any of the products plummeting their economy.

The British originally came in as a decent sized company in East India, but when the sepoys attacked that company, England sent their whole army and navy to get the sepoys under control, but while doing that they also took over all of India. Although economically and socially the Indians did benefit in some ways, the British established a massive infrastructure by controlling India and having a huge political, economic, and social impact on India that helped them more than it helped the Indians.

Specifically, the Treaty of Nanjing, which was signed by China and Britain after the first Opium War in 1842, gave more rights to British traders within China: “The Emperor of China agrees to… permit [British traders] to carry on their mercantile transactions with whatever persons they please,”. British traders now had the ability to trade directly with the public, a privilege that China had long denied foreign countries. These new rights made it easier for British merchants to trade opium, and increased its prevalence in the population. Not only that, British traders used their new rights to gain a strong foothold in the Chinese economy. The Treaty of Nanjing ensured that Britain would have a powerful influence within China and could do whatever they wanted. But in 1906, Britain ended the opium trade when China proposed a 10-year plan to completely eradicate opium. The Chinese government had kept the issue alive since 1900 by negotiating smaller treaties to block opium trading, but it wasn’t until 1905 that British lawmakers seriously considered China’s demands for an end to the trade. By 1900 Britain was making less and less money from the opium trade, with opium imports into China having peaked in the late 19th century. The overwhelming power of the opium trade had created an imbalance in

In the early eighteen hundreds, Britain and other European countries demanded more and more Chinese commodities, especially tea and silk. However, only the port in Canton was opened to foreign countries, and Chinese would not take any other form of payments besides silver. The desire to make China into a free market that foreigners have more access to and the increasing, though illegal, European opium import to China eventually created tension between the European countries, especially Britain, and the Chinese government (Allingham Par. 1-2). The two battles fought and won by European powers were known as the Opium Wars. China’s politics, economy, and intellects were both positively and negatively

The appointment of Lin Tse-hsu as Imperial Commissioner at Canton was the catalyst that changed the trajectory of Chinese-British relations. Tse-hsu immediately began to shut down the opium trade at its source by exposing and punishing corrupt officials and seizing opium supplies without compensation. He wrote a letter to Queen Victoria requesting Britain forego further opium imports to China, citing Britain's banning of its use and trade within its own borders (Hooker). The Queen's refusal enraged Tse-hsu and he threatened to end trade with Britain altogether. Britain responded by using their superior military might to compel them to keep trade channels open and to remove the many trade restrictions currently in place, thus beginning the first opium war. It is important to note that the opium trade was merely the final straw amongst a heap of British-Chinese tensions. With a decisive victory in 1842, the Chinese were forced to sign the Treaty of Nanking, which significantly reduced their autonomy and awarded the British favorable trading conditions. However, by 1856, the British felt China was not abiding by the terms of the treaty and launched another campaign, the second opium war, that ended in 1860, and reduced China to something more

As early as 1793 the Qing Dynasty began to have trouble with their trades. When China began to work with the British for trade it became an exploitive exchange from the British. Western trade was limited to the Southern port of Canton (Guangzhou).This was known as the Canton trade system period (1757-1842). The Chinese government issued trading licenses exclusively to authorized merchants. These merchants would be the only ones allowed to deal with Western traders. This system helped keep trade with foreign countries running smoothly and, by extension, helped to eliminate the possibility of external threats. In Britain's case, as the demand for tea rose and the production of manufactured goods increased during the Industrial Revolution, it wanted to develop and increase trading opportunities and to establish diplomatic relations with China. This led to Macartney's famous British mission to China in 1793. China began to enforce rules that were as fickle as wind, England decided to send lord Macartney as an Ambassador to Emperor Qianlong to negotiate safer and

British attempts for renewed trade conditions were not met favourably by the Emperor. Firstly, due to China’s self-superiority it was assumed the visiting diplomats were paying tribute. Further complications arose with British refusal to comply with Chinese customs e.g. performing the kowtow before the Emperor. These actions caused misunderstandings and misinterpretations, which set the basis of British-Chinese relations and attitudes.

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