Effects Of Tea On British Imperialism

Tea was an addiction among many drinkers from China to all the way to Europe. It was considered an alternative to water. It had a major impact on trade and was one of the many goods that dominated the global market. Tea played an important role in British imperialism and was involved in political affairs. It was also part of the daily lives people and assimilated to different cultures in parts of the world such as England. The origin of tea is unknown and was domesticated thousands of years later after its discovery and developed over time. No one knew where the camellia sinensis, which is a tea plant, originated, however tea was consumed by tribal people in the south-east Asian jungles such as in Thailand, the eastern Himalayas, and Burma …show more content…
It had a major effect on trade and on Britain, China, and India. It encouraged British imperialism over India and China and caused a war between China and Britain. Although Britain benefited from the tea the in the end, China suffered a major consequences from it, having impact on economy and being other controlled by imperialistic countries. When British merchants kept trading opium with the Chinese in exchange for tea, it had a negative impact on China. As more opium flowed into China, more money was being carried out into the hands of British merchants, causing economic instability. Farmers were getting addicted to the drug and couldn’t work, which caused a problem in the agricultural industry, where China’s economy depended on. It also caused starvation because of inactive farmers and many people died. The dead corpses weren’t buried properly and so it caused diseases which also decreased the population. The government was corrupted and was seen as a weak government. This lead to rebellions and a civil war, leaving China in a state of chaos and allowed imperialistic countries to come in and control the weakened nation. The government saw opium as a threat and wanted to stop the trade of the narcotic. Commissioner Lin Tze-su was sent to Canton to terminate the Opium trade by demanding the end of opium trade . Since this did not work, he and his men burned warehouses containing opium and arrested smugglers (Standage, 210). Due to the friction between the British and Chinese, war was declared, thus the Opium war. The British won and had full economic control over China. As a result, Britain dominated the tea trade and continued to produce tea in India. Tea production is still continued today and is still a major drink. It became part of British culture and the people consume 165 million cups of tea a day (Macfarlane, 32). Although India is one of its biggest producers of tea, China still produces a lot of tea. China and India