First Opium War

The First Opium War took place between Great Britain and China from 1839-1842 over Great Britain’s right to trade opium, and to a lesser extent to preserve international trade in Asian Continent. While the war itself is interesting, several significant economic insights can be obtained by observing how the economic conditions of the time brought about war. At the turn of the 18th Century, China saw itself as the best country in the world. They were almost completely self-sufficient and had been for centuries, which contributed towards China’s lack of interest in international trade. Any foreign trade was, by Chinese culture, considered a tribute to the Emperor, for which he would give small gifts in return. (The Economic…) Their excessive pride…

The time after the Civil War during America's expansion to the west was a time of great change and opportunity. But it was also difficult, challenging, and painful for many who came to seek a new life or opportunity. Through rebellion, secession, war, and expansion, the citizens of this new and still growing nation began to acknowledge the plights and unfairness to segregated groups. A war had been fought over the plight of one group of oppressed people. But change comes slowly, and other non…

The first opium war, which commenced on the 18th of March, 1839 and ended on the 29th of August, 1842. The First Opium War was fought between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Qing Imperium. This war came about due to their conflicting opinions on trade, additionally occurred due to the factor of the extinction of opium. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the request for Chinese goods (particularly silk, porcelain, and tea) in the European market engendered a trade inequity because the…

In excerpts of Duncan MacPherson’s memoir of the First Opium War (April 1840-August 1842), Two Years in China, MacPherson describes the events of the war along with what he believed about China and its people. He justifies British actions in the Opium War and the British opium trade by claiming that describing Chinese people are inferior to the British. Other times, he compliments China, but possibly only for the purpose of justifying and promoting the opium trade. The memoir displays examples…

The Opium Wars were a series of wars that took place between 1839 and 1860 although the fighting was not continuous and had brief times of non-fighting. The First war started in 1839 after a realized trade deficit on Britain's side with a high demand for Chinese goods including tea and silk with almost no demand for western good from China mainly because China was a self-sufficient nation and the fact that foreign trade was so tightly restricted. After a series of requests and demands from both…

time. This directly influenced the events leading up to the First Opium War. Once western traders arrived in China for the first time, foreign ideas infiltrated China and began to change the ways of life. The arrivals of westerners was essential to the tensions that rose leading to the First Opium War. The Chinese thought of the world as a square and heaven as a circle. They also believed that the Chinese nation was situated under heaven, while the rest of the world was not. Any land that was…

Colonialism. Over the course of history, many ancient empires set up colonies in foreign lands, encountered the indigenous people, and often times, established a trading network between themselves; the settlers are entitled to the land’s natural resources, and the natives are allowed access to superior technology. However, such relationships between colonists and the indigenous populace did not always yield positive results. The ancient Chinese became addicted to opium marketed by the British,…

Against the background of the First Opium War (1840–42), Western photographers visited China for the first time, accompanying Western military personnel, missionaries, and consular officials. The earliest recorded photographic activity in China by Western photographers was in July 1842, only three years after the invention of the medium. Dr. Richard Woosnam (1815–1888) and Major George Alexander Malcolm (1810–1888) made daguerreotypes at Yangtze (Yangzi) River during the final stages of the…

Plato, an ancient philosopher, once said, “Only the dead have seen the end of war.” Men have gone to war for centuries for property, for with property comes power. Imperialism, the extension of a country's power and property through conquering other lands, has brought the world into a state of constant war for power. It is evident that imperialism has had a negative effect on the course on history just by looking at the amounts of war the world has experienced. The Opium Wars and both World Wars…

The importation of Opium in China was the result of the inept Qing government, submissive foreign policies, and the determination of the British government to open up the Chinese market. The Opium War in China was disasterous to China, accelerating its downfall. The inefficient government cannot solve the problem of the widespread Opium Trade in China, which became rooted in the society, demoralizing the citizens. To begin with, the primary reason of the uncontrollable Opium trade was the…