Opium War Dbq

Also, citizens became addicted, and the drug eventually killed thousands of people. China’s actions angered Britain politicians even though opium was illegal in Britain as well. But was a result, war started between the two countries. In 1842, the treaty of Nanking ended the war. It was the first unequal treaty with Britain and it said that Chinese had to give up Hong Kong to Britain for ninty-nine years, the British would live in China by extraterritoriality at four ports, distribution of opium would continue and Christain missionaries will be set up throughout China. When China couldn’t meet the ridiculous requirements of the treaty, the second Opium War began in 1956. As a result, Britain won again by the Treaty of Tientsin. The treaty asked to open more ports to outer nations, let foreign leaders into the capital Beijing, and legalized the distribution and use of opium. Their situation was dangerously bad.

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

Opium came from opium poppy seeds, which were grown and sold under British ruling in India. The British East India Company developed a monopoly which took place in effectively growing opium and making profits and/or trading it with the Chinese in exchange for their premium good such as silk, porcelain, and tea. According to Memorials on the Legalization and Elimination of Opium by Xu Naiji and Yuan Yulin, they explained how the rise of opium prompted many debts and death around China. Opium became an addiction for many, from the poor to officials in government positions. Cutting off all access of trading opium would’ve started issues in the trading network, not just with Britain but with the Western countries as well. Instead of passing laws to completely ban opium, they reverted to only permitting the barbarian merchants to import opium to pay duty as a medication. This made it unacceptable for money to be involved with the product. According to Xu Naiji, smokers of opium were lazy, with no purpose in life and if they were caught smoking it, the only punishment was getting the opium confiscated. However, if any officer, scholar, or soldier were found smoking opium, the would be immediately dismissed from public employ. Yuan Yulin, a minister, believes that the expansion of opium is the government’s fault, being that they cannot decipher right from wrong; he thought it was unfair that prohibition of smoking opium only applied to the officers of the government, scholars, and military but not the common people. The British capitalized on the effects of opium, because many of China’s population were going to put forth their money, goods, etc. for

By 1839, war was imminent. The opium trade had caused the reversal of the silver deficit, now putting an economic strain on China, while Britain’s economy flourished from the profit they were making off the drug. Because it was being illegally imported, all of the money was going directly to Britain instead of to the Chinese government in the form of taxes. This caused a severe economic decline in China as unemployment rose, agriculture declined, and funding for public improvements diminished.

China and British perspectives on the opium trade were contradistinctive and ultimately became the foundations of the Opium Wars in 1839-42 and 1856-60. The clash of opinions were not based around the narcotic opium itself but stemmed from a misunderstanding of cultures, conflicting economic behaviours and different ethical ideologies.

In 1729 China banned the distribution of opium. This ban was not heavily enforced. At this time Britain began growing opium as a cash crop. In 1773 Britain imported 1,000 chests of opium to China. The Chinese people became addicted. In 1832 Britain imported another 20,000 chests of opium to China. Then in 1836 China closed all main ports as an attempt to keep opium out of the country. Chinese officials then openly burned large amounts of confiscated opium. This sparked The First Opium War. This war lasted 4 years and ended with the Treaty of Nanjing which opened all of China’s ports and made Hong Kong a British colony. This was beneficial to Britain because they made money importing opium to China, as well as forcing China into a war that Britain knew that they could win and gain land from.

While The boxer rebellions is still ongoing, the British were selling opium, a poisonous drug made from poppy plants, to the chinese people. The British colonies refused to stop importing opium and continued selling opium to injure the chinese. In document 1 The Opium War, The chinese suffered shameful defeat and were forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing, which gave Britain the island of Hong Kong and free from the chinese laws at the chinese ports. China’s humiliated lost made them resist against the British rule, eventually leading to the Opium Wars. Although they were manipulated by the British, they still resisted to prove their loyalty and their love for their country. This indicates that the chinese people show Nationalism by portraying the pride they have for their country. The chinese also shows ideology by showing loyalty to their sacredness and ancient culture. In conclusion, imperialism altered China to a country that has nationalism and pride for their

The Chinese sold many things that European markets were interested in. The British, observing the demand for opium in China, both for legitimate reasons, and by addicts, grew and sold large amounts of opium, and sold it to intermediaries for silver that would eventually sell it on to the Chinese. The balance of trade being upset, and the concern over the growing number of Chinese opium addicts, led the Chinese government to impound foreign ships, destroy cargos, and arrest merchants. Basically suppressing the trade. The British did not like China's decisions. Therefore the British responded violently, they had a couple of bloody battles, the British won numerous times , dominating Chinese armies. China tried fighting back but it made things worse. Another major event that occurred in the Opium wars is the Treaty of Nanjing. This treaty is a big event because it gave Britain a lot of advantages, like the Chinese giving full control of Hong Kong to Britain. Also giving Britain more ports where they could trade Opium, the last thing that the British was given by the Chinese in accordance to the treaty was money. This basically showed that the British won the first Opium war, due to all the privileges the British gained from the Chinese’s peace

The aim of this investigation is to find the extent to which the British and Chinese trade of opium into China caused the corruption and eventual downfall of the Qing dynasty. The main body of this investigation focuses on the corruption and failure of the Chinese government in controlling British incursions, which caused its citizens to rebel and thus began the downfall of the Qing Dynasty. The introductions of opium to China and the effects it had on China will be assessed in accordance to origin, value, purpose, and limitation. The British and Chinese trade in relation to opium and its role of corruption in the Qing Dynasty will be analyzed also.

To contextualize relevant to the political, social, and economic causes and effects of the first and second opium wars during the modern period 1750-1900 CE, the rate of interconnectedness, industrialization and global integration was rapidly increasing in the western hemisphere while the eastern hemisphere, specifically China, was experiencing great misfortune. At this time there was a significantly high demand for Chinese goods in Europe such as porcelain and chinese silk, but the Chinese did not have a demand for goods in Europe. Since China accumulated most of the silver from Europe there was an unbalanced distribution of silver, which caused the Europeans to start selling opium to the Chinese in order to restore the flow of silver out of China. This resulted in the first opium war in 1839- 1842, the major Civil war in 1850-1864, and second opium war in 1856-1860 which horrendously affected China’s economy, government, and social relations.

The Opium Wars took place in China from 1839 to 1860, between Western forces and the Qing dynasty, which ruled China from 1644 to 1912. The first Opium War occurred from 1839 to 1832 and was fought between China and Britain. In the 17th and 18th centuries, European demand for Chinese goods (particularly silk, porcelain, and tea) created a trade deficit between Great Britain and Qing Imperial China. In 1839, China’s Emperor had enough of British drug smuggling and suspended all British trade with China, beginning the first Opium War. In 1842, the Qing Dynasty was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanking, which granted protection and immunity to Britain, and opened five treaty ports to foreign suppliers, among other things. The second Opium War, also referred to as the Anglo-French War in China, occurred from 1856 to 1860, and was fought by Britain and France against China. The failure of the Treaty of Nanking to satisfy British goals of enhanced trade and diplomatic relations led to the second war.

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 British then increased their trade and began smuggling opium into China and the Chinese officials were easily bribed, making trade easy for the British. The Chinese emperor demanded the British stop selling the illegal drugs, but they refused and this sparked

In a way I feel that the opium war was justified. I think that it was justified for the Chinese to strike back and go against the British to put an end to the opium being smuggled and used. I wouldn't exactly say that back then, the Chinese were weak or ineffective, but that the British just had more influence and

The Opium Wars were a series of three wars between the Chinese and the British; primarily fought in regard to the illegal trade of opium in China during the 19th century. They manifested the conflicting natures of both nations and demonstrated China’s misconceptions of its own superiority. The Opium Wars resulted in the humiliating defeat of the Chinese to a country they considered to be “barbarians”.