文档介绍：The Opium Wars
Dispute between Great Britain and China
Growth of Opium Trade
Europeans bought silk, tea, porcelain, and spices from China
Chinese would only trade goods for silver
Drain on European finances
Opium Trade
Opium manufactured in China since 15th century for medical purposes
Opium then mixed with tobacco so it could be smoked
Dutch were first to begin trade of opium
English soon followed
Chinese government banned smoking and trade of opium in 1729 due to health and social issues
English East India Company
Held monopoly on production and export of opium in India
Peasant cultivators often coerced and paid in advance for cultivation of poppies
Sold in Calcutta for a profit of 400%
East India Company
Buy tea on credit in Canton
Sell opium at auctions in Calcutta, India
Then it was smuggled into China through India and Bengal
1797 began direct trade of opium into China
Chinese government had hard time controlling trade in South
Napier Affair
Lord Napier tried to circumvent the Canton Trade laws to reinstitute East India’s monopoly
Governor of Macao closed trade with Britain September 2, 1834
British resumed trade under old restrictions
First Opium War 1834 - 1843
1838 Chinese instituted death penalty for native traffickers of opium
March 1839 – new commissioner to control opium trade – Lin Zexu
Lin imposed embargo on Britain unless they permanently ended the trade trade
First Opium War
March 27, 1839 – British Superintendent of Trade – Charles Elliot demanded all British subjects turn over opium to him
Opium amounting to a year’s worth of trade was given to Commissioner Lin
Trade resumed with Britain and no drugs were smuggled
First Opium War
Lin demanded British merchants to sign a bond promising not to deal opium under penalty of death
Lin disposed of the opium – dissolving it in the ocean
Did not realize the impact of this action!
First Opium War
British merchants and government regarded this as destruction of private pr