History Of Hong Kong And The Opium Trade

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.

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.

The long-term effects of the opium trade were economically harmful to the Chinese. In “An Argument for Legalization,” senior official and advisor to Emperor Daoguang,

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

In conclusion, the 1839 “Letter to Queen Victoria” by Lin Zexu argued that Opium is a source of evil and pain and appealed to the Queen of Great Britain to abolish sale and smuggling of opium in China. Zexu did this through exemplifying the past trading relationship of China and Great Britain, also by moral persuasion, and last by means of warnings and

The Opium War was a major part of China’s history. There were many economic issues, (the high cost of importing opium), political issues (disobedience of Chinese ban on opium imports) and consequences of the British victory (Britain’s greater power over China) that precipitated the Opium war, but the British victory had the greatest impact on China because the extension of British power reduced China’s autonomy and made them more dependent on Europe. The high cost of importing opium had major consequences that weakened the Chinese economy and was a leading cause for the Opium War. Document A is a record of the British Imports and Exports at the Port of Canton.

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

People in Britain were not allowed to smoke opium because it was illegal and had hash punishments if they did therefore the people were too scared to start smoking it. Because of the harsh consequences of smoking opium, Britain tries to sell it to China to make money. They made money because the Chinese bought and became addicts that lead them to buy more. In The Treaty of Nanjing, it states “ His Imperial Majesty further agrees to pay to the British Government the sum of Three Millions of Dollars, on account of Debts due to British subjects by some of the said Hong Merchants who become insolvent” (Article V). China has to pay a large amount of money to Britain because it was said to be due to the “British subjects.” It also affected Britain socially because British subjects were allowed to reside in China even when it isn’t trade season, which benefits them to trade more along with the sudden gain of money from

Introduction - Use of psychoactive substances for recreational purposes is not a radically new social issue. In fact, history tells us that almost every society had their own pharmacopeia of herbs, potions, and substances that not only contributed to healing, but also allowed the user to escape reality (Schules 1992, 4-5). However, it is the contemporary use of psychoactive drugs purchased through illicit or illegal channels and used by persons neither prescribed nor in quantities larger than necessary that defines modern drug abuse (Robins 2006). Prior to World War I, substances like morphine, heroin, and cocaine were available in the major American cities, particularly those with active international ports. For instance, when Chinese immigrants were first imported to work in the mines and railroads during the early 1800s, they brought opium to America. It was the leisure class, who began to experiment with this drug, and, as in Europe, many major U.S. cities had so-called opium dens. In addition, there were a substantial number of "society women" who ended up addicted because their doctor prescribed this drug to deal with female histrionics or to "cure" an excessive sexual appetite (Johnson 2002). Within major cities, this problem began to spill over into other groups: prostitutes, child laborers, orphans, and even men and women of lower social classes seeking to escape the harshness of their lives (Courtwright 2002, 3-19). Between the widespread use and general

Throughout history men and women have been consuming psychotrophic substances for various purposes, including for relaxation, to achieve a state of euphoria, or to alter consciousness in order to find spiritual enlightenment. References to the opium poppy, which has been a major source of these psychotrophic substances, have been discovered in writings as far back as that of the Sumerians in 3300BC (Fernandez 1998:3). Opium has been used in various forms over the centuries for medicinal in addition to recreational purposes.

smugglers, was occupied by the British Empire during the first opium war against the Chinese

Xu’s memorandum advocates for the government allowing opium to be brought into China by foreign traders as a taxable good as the best way to combat the opium problem. Xu views strict laws against opium as ineffectual for tackling the drug problem in China, noting in the first paragraph that, “the more severe the interdicts against [opium] are made, the more widely do the evils arising therefrom spread” (Xu page 1). While he acknowledges the addictive and destructive effects of opium on those who use it, Xu believes that the stricter the laws proscribing the dissemination and use of opium, the more widely used the drug becomes. Xu argues that the prohibitions against the opium trade led to increased smuggling by foreign traders and increased use of the drug across China. Conversely, when the state’s policy towards opium was one of leniency, in which opium was allowed into China and taxed as a medicine, the issues involving opium were

In this letter he argues that china provides Britain with valuable supplies that Britain’s could not live without such as tea, silk, and spices. In exchange Britain only “exports” to china opium or better known for him as poison. Millions of Chinese were addicted to opium and although the drug was illegal, British merchant continued to

During the 18th century, the British began trading opium to the Chinese. They had finally found a commodity the Chinese were willing to buy. Opium was an illicit drug with addictive properties. As demand on opium increased, the British traders made huge profits and the trade imbalance was reversed. There was now a steady flow of silver leaving China. In 1796, the Ch’ing government banned the importation of opium. This did not stop the British, who continued the trade illegally. As well, extensive corruption amongst Chinese officials allowed the opium trade to flourish.

When India brought opium to China, India was put into a whole lot of trouble. Since opium is very addictive, it was hard to stop using this product- just the same as using marijuana or tobacco. The Chinese Emperor was furious with the British for getting a majority of the Chinese people hooked onto opium, so this resulted in the Opium Wars. These wars were fought against Britain and China, and became a big problem for the Chinese. The trade of opium was just as big as the tea trade- the estimated amount of addicts was about 10 million. Foreign merchants were confronted and forced to surrender because of these sales, but China could not keep the British out. Regardless of any rules that were passed, people would still continue to buy and sell opium.