Dbq flash cards

Thesis points

Weakening the economy

Corruption and inequality

Increasing social problems

What is document 3 about

Written in 1878 by Qing officials to address foreign embassies about unfair treaties.

• Evidence: The letter complains about how foreigners were not subject to Chinese laws and how missionaries used their privileges to break rules.

Document 4

The elders say that poverty forced people into banditry. They also mention that bandits used foreign weapons.

Document 2

Karl Marx wrote this in 1853 for a Western audience, criticizing how Britain harmed China.

• Evidence: Marx explains that British opium trade drained China’s wealth and ruined its officials through bribery. He also says that cheap British goods hurt Chinese industries.

Treaty of Nanking (1842) forced China to give up Hong Kong and opium imports. This shows how foreign involvement took advantage of China.

Document 7

Written in 1912 by Empress Dowager Longyu during the fall of the Qing dynasty.

• Evidence: The decree says people supported a republican government because they were unhappy with Qing rule.

Context

Signs of decline began to emerge in the 18th century, foreshadowing its eventual collapse in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Population growth began to outpace agricultural production, leading to land shortages and poverty.

Additionally, European powered like Britain were expanding their global influence during the age of imperialism.

China refused to open economy to other countries like Japan, France and Britain and there was a heavy demand of tea and silk from them.

Britain was looking for ways to reverse this trade pattern, in turn promoting internal instability that occurred intensifying in the early 19th century