Opium Wars

Imperialism
Case Study:
Opium Wars

An area in which an outside
power claims exclusive
investment or trading
privileges

Sphere of Influence

Industrialization & Imperialism

●Both industrialization and the concept of
imperialism drove Europeans to seek out raw
materials and establish colonies to control new
markets

●Industrialization also allowed Europeans to
modernize faster than many Asian nations, which
gave Europe useful tools, including
steam-powered ships and advanced weapons.

○These were then used to pressure China and
other Asian regions into accepting their
demands.

Gunboat Diplomacy: foreign
policy that is supported by the
use or threat of military force.

“Free” Trade & China

●In the years leading up to the Opium
Wars, foreign trade was strictly
controlled by the Chinese using the
“Canton System.”

●The British ran a three-country trade
system: British goods to India, Indian
cotton and British silver to China, and
Chinese tea and other goods to Britain.

●The British felt this system was
‘unbalanced’ and sought to shift the
balance in their favor by selling a new
product to China instead of cotton:
opium

What was the Chinese-European
balance of trade problem in the
early nineteenth century?

Answer

In 1839, the British imposed on
China their version of free trade
and insisted on the legal right of
their citizens (that is, British
citizens) to do what they wanted,
wherever they wanted.

Predict: How might the Chinese
government respond to Britain’s
calls for free trade?

Answer

The First Opium War

●The First Opium War (1839-1842) was fought between
Britain and China, triggered by British outcry against
China's confiscation [seizing] of British opium.

●China was aware not only of the damaging effects of
opium on its people, but also of the drain on its silver
reserves, and tried to ban it.

●In 1839, Chinese official Commissioner Lin Zexu
demanded the foreigners hand over their opium stocks,
and destroyed them.

●British commercial interests pushed for war with China, and the British sent in
gunboats.

●The British easily defeated the Chinese who were forced to sign the Treaty of
Nanjing in 1842

Treaty of Nanjing Excerpt

Article 3

It being obviously necessary and desirable that British subjects should
have some port thereat they may careen and refit their ships when
required, and keep stores for that purpose. His Majesty The Emperor of
China cedes to Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain the Island of
Hongkong to be possessed in perpetuity by Her Britannic Majesty, Her
Heirs, and Successors and to be governed by such laws and regulations
as Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain shall see fit to direct.

Article 5

The Government of China having compelled the British merchants
trading at Canton to deal exclusively with certain Chinese merchants
called Hong merchants (or Cohong) who had been licensed by the
Chinese government for that purpose, the Emperor of China agrees to
abolish that practice in future at all ports where British merchants may
reside, and to permit them to carry on their mercantile transactions with
whatever persons they please…

What do articles 3 and 5 give
to Great Britain?

Answer

Treaty of Nanjing

In 1842 the Chinese and British signed the Treaty of Nanjing.

Among other provisions, the treaty allowed the British to trade at five Chinese ports rather than
the one port they had previously been permitted to visit.

British companies wanted to
sell opium in China. British
military forces supported them.

What does this reveal about
the relationship between
government and private
production/ distribution in
this era of capitalism and
empire?

Answer

•By 1790 the Chinese
government realized that
the opium trade and
addition was a problem.

•In 1800, it banned both
the production and
importation of opium.

•In 1813, the Chinese
government outlawed the
smoking of opium and
imposed harsh
punishments

What does the above graph tell you
about the opium trade in China from
1650-1860?

Answer

-In 1856, a second Opium
War broke out and
continued until 1860, when
the British and French
captured Beijing and
forced on China a new
round of unequal treaties
and the opening of 11
more treaty ports

-Led to increased Christian
missionary work and
legalization of the opium
trade

The Second Opium War

Effects- Read here

Take notes on the major effects of the Opium Wars.

Answer (Bullet Point)

●

Chinese Emperor Qianlong
Expels British representative
Lord McCartney, who refused
to Kowtow (1793)

British merchant sells opium
at gunpoint (1864)

Cartoon #1

Cartoon #2

How does the trading power balance shift between 1793
and 1864?

Explain using details from the cartoons on the previous slide as
well as concepts you learned today.