Opium Wars - Causes, events, effects

Causes

• Peasants drive out Ming dynasty in 1644
  • Ming commander unites his forces with nomads from the Manchurian plains → Manchus
  • Manchus are allowed into China to stop rebellion → refuse to leave → set up Qing dynasty
    • Now also referred to as Qings
• Qings = few in numbers, but ruled for 3 centuries
  • Encouraged development of Chinese culture
  • Permitted citizen interference in government
  • Left villages alone
  • Operated public works (irrigation canals, roads, bridges)
  • New crops (potatoes, corn, peanuts) → population grew
  • Farmland became scarce
  • Eventually started to neglect public → revolts
• Canton Trade System = regulated Qing trading system
  • West had to trade through southern port of Canton
  • Could only reside in limited spaces
  • Could not bring family
  • Could not stay more than a few months a year
  • Only licensed merchants
  • Qing emperor saw Western merchants as barbarians → had to offer certain things
  • Tribute = gift given to leader for gratitude of their rule
  • Kowtowing = kneeling before the leader
• British felt a trade imbalance with China → started to plant opium (drug) in Bengal, India
  • Lord George Macartney tried to give tribute to fix trade → failed
  • British decided that they could only fight with violence
• Prohibitions from trading Opium → merchants had to move to Lintin island (entrance of Pearl River) to avoid officials
  • Opium clippers = the modernized, fast clipper ships that smuggle opium to China
  • “Fast crabs” and “scrambling dragons” = the Chinese boats that would collect and then disperse opium along the coast of China
• Became a very popular drug -> many companies + individuals (foreigners, Chinese) wanted to become involved
  • Caused too much outflow of money → currency was becoming instable
  • Officials who used it started to fall behind in their work
  • Daoguang emperor declared to fully get rid of it → sent official Lin Zexu to Canton, 1839
• Zexu became Imperial Commissioner of Canton
  • Wanted to completely prohibit opium
  • Destroyed a shipment of British opium at Canton
  • Tried to send letters to Queen Victoria about the opium issues
  • Still respected to this day for his honest and incorruptible efforts
• British parliament becomes worried
  • Hawks → called for war
  • Doves → thought opium trade was immoral
• Small fights between Britain and China exploded into the Opium War
  • China poisoned British wells + prohibited sale of food and all trade
  • British warships opened fire on Chinese when they denied them food and water

Events

• Formal declaration of war 1-31-1840
  • Small confrontation British vs Chinese at Chuanbi, Canton Bay
• Commissioner Lin
  • Lied about Chuanbi -> Chinese lost, but told emperor they won
  • Did not believe Chinese were strong enough to win war
  • Tried to punish users/dealers to stop trade
  • Kept trying to use morals to convince foreigners to stop opium
    • Foreigners were too prideful/angry to listen -> didn’t work
• June 1840 -> British arrive at and assert authority at Canton
  • Ask for:
  • Compensation for stolen Opium
  • Abolition of Canton Trading System
  • Right to occupy an island off of the Chinese coast
  • Built naval blockade + traveled coastline
  • Wanted to intimidate + find a leader to agree to their terms
• Lin taken down from Commissionar for incompetence
  • Successor was too soft -> British invasion continued
• 7-21-1842, final major battle of the war
  • Chinkiang (Zhenjiang) fell to invaders
  • Allowed an opening to Nanking (Nanjing), major city in major area
    • Losing Nanking = split in North + South China
• Treaty of Nanking, 8-29-1842
  • Chinese ports Canton, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, Shanghai are open
  • 20 million silver dollar payment to Britain
  • Compensation for opium + cost of the war
  • Abolish Cohong monopoly
  • Controlled trade at Canton
  • Hong Kong = British territory
  • Disappointed -> Hong Kong was initially difficult
    • Eventually became a dominant city
• Second Opium War (France + Britain vs China), 1857-1860
  • Chinese ignored treaty -> created obstacles to trade
  • US wanted to help China, but also wanted less obstacles to trade
• Treaties of Tianjin, 1858
  • China + Russia + US + France + Britain
  • 11 new treaty ports in China
  • Chang river = open to commerce
  • Most important trading river
  • Foreigners/missionaries can travel in China
  • Importation of opium = legalized
  • Tariff of 5%
  • Could have diplomatic relations in the capital (Beijing)
  • Would destroy Chinese tradition -> tried to stop the diplomats
    • Had to sign additional Beijing Treaty
• Other Western countries used this as an excuse to make other treaties -> unequal treaties
  • Extraterritoriality = exemption of foreigners from Chinese law
  • Foreigners have the same rights
  • Foreigners (missionaries, traders, travelers) allowed in China
  • Fixed tariffs

Effects

• Chinese government lost control over its economy
• Foreign merchants could do business in China -> less business for native merchants
• Missionaries taught Christianity
• Foreigners were not subject to Chinese law
• Foreigners built new places at trading ports
• Foreign troops + goods were all around
• Tariff so low -> more money to buy locally than import

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