“The Home Of The Chinese Race Is In Asia, And A Great Future

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.

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

“Chinese Immigrant Lee Chew Denounces Prejudice in America, 1882” A Comprehensive view of Discrimination in Nineteenth Century America

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.

In 1965, the last legal barrier to Chinese immigrants fell with the signing of a new law that ended immigration quotas based on race. In the 19th and early 20th centuries the story of the Chinese in America was primarily a legal drama, played out on the nation’s borders and in courts. After the new immigration law went into effect, it became a personal story told by one individual and by one family at a time.

A picture of the Chinese naval fleet being destroyed shows us that the Chinese chose to go to war due to the opium trade with England. Depending on who made the picture, either the British were trying to show their naval power or the Chinese were attempting to show how much damage Britain was inflicting on their country. Imperial China’s government responded violently and politically to British trade, doing everything they could to get the merchants out of their country.

Imperialism was bad for China. The British had to create silver; because that was the only thing China wanted to trade with. Because, the British were trading opium with China, it threatened China’s trade balance. China also saw how bad opium affecting people so they decided to take a lot of the opium and throw it into the ocean. The British demanded access to Chinese territory to trade. China did not agree to let them in, the British sent gunships to take over Canton by force. China was defeated and signed the treaty of Nanjing. Signing it meant that China

A Chinese immigration political cartoon by Thomas Nast from an 1871 Harper’s Weekly magazine, displays criticisms of Chinese immigrants to the US on a wall (Doc. B). These complaints include, “They are dishonest and false, vicious, immoral, and heathenish”, and, “Coolie, slave, pauper, rat-eater.” These harsh comments affected the image of the Chinese. Americans made the immigrants appear inhumane and cold-hearted. Because the immigrants were stereotyped to the point they were called the “lowest and vilest of the human race,” Americans were influenced to pass the Chinese Exclusion

Many immigrants who arrived in the United States of America often times felt like “Strangers to These Shores.” The Chinese immigrants were no different, and were not spared from prejudice, racism or discrimination. In fact, many Chinese migrants came as sojourners in the early nineteenth century for various push and pull factors and posed a real threat to Irish union workers; life was not easy for the Chinese during this period in time.

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

From the First and the Second Opium War to the Sino-Japanese War, China was a piece of pie that every imperialist country wanted to take a bite. Both Western powers and Japan had forced China signed numerous inequality treaties. Every time Chinese people tried to resist these foreign powers, there would be more humiliated terms on the treaties and larger amount of reparation awaited. After defeated by British in the First Opium War, the Qing dynasty had to accept the Treaty of Nanjing, which China paid British an indemnity, ceded

Since the birth of America, many different people from all around the world flocked to North America in hopes of making a good life for themselves, or their families. Many came from the west, as well as a large amount came from the east. Most of these eastern immigrants hailed from China. These people were welcomed with open arms and kindness for a short time, at least at first. Afterwards, there was a long period of racial tension, due to social differences. How did the Chinese immigrants integrate themselves into the American culture, and what difficulties did they face? One thing is sure; the Chinese have stood fast throughout history, and made their place in American society.