Opening Thoughts
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Are cultural traditions (the way you act, what you wear, how your country
runs etc.) worth keeping if it means you may be taken over by another
country?
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Would you give up your cultural traditions to keep your independence?
China and the West
China and the West
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Lots of mining
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Great agricultural economy to feed
huge population
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Produce silks, cotton, tea, and
porcelain.
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No need for Western goods
Tea-Opium Connection
Europe needs to nd something
China will buy.
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British merchants smuggle
opium in to China.
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By 1835 12 million Chinese
addicted to the drug.
fi
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=NbHAWNQRV70
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War Breaks Out
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Chinese emperor writes angry letter
to England’s Queen Victoria in 1839
Wants the end of selling opium.
He is ignored.
1839 war breaks out. Called the
Opium War.
British gunboats destroy Chinese
eet.
Treaty of Nanjing
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Sign Treaty of Nanjing in 1842 ending war.
China gives Britain the island of Hong Kong.
Another treaty in 1844 gives the US and other countries
extraterritorial rights in several Chinese ports.
Extraterritorial rights = foreigners do not need to follow
Chinese laws.
Growing Internal Problems
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Population explodes to over 430
million in china in 1850.
Food supply barely increases.
Mass starvation.
Chinese rebel against the Qing
Dynasty.
Discussion Questions
Describe how British trade with China triggered the Opium War
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The Industrial Revolution was both a motivator for British imperialism and
a cause of British control over China. How did if a ect China’s history?
ff
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Taiping Rebellion
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Hong Xiuquan recruits followers to create a
kingdom where there would be no poverty.
Movement called the Taiping Rebellion.
1850 he has an army of 1 million.
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Take over the China in 1853.
Leaders fought among themselves.
1864 Taiping government collapses.
20 million dead and twice that are
rebelling.
Dowager Empress Ci Xi
Dowager Empress Ci Xi
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v9rcwlF5xs
Foreign In uence Grows
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China resists change. Wants to keep
traditional ways.
Dowager Empress did let China start to
industrialize.
Foreign countries take control of more
and more of China.
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Open Door Policy
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US is afraid others will divide China into
colonies and end their pro table trade.
Declare Open Door Policy
Says China will be open to all nations to
trade.
Other Countries agree.
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Boxer Rebellion
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Some Chinese resent privileges of foreigners.
Form group called the Boxers.
Rebel against the Dowager Empress in 1900.
Called Boxer Rebellion.
Europeans send troops to help Empress and
Boxers are destroyed.
Chinese people increase sense of nationalism in
China.
People feel the government should pay more
attention to their needs.
Discussion Questions
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How did Western powers gain greater trading right in China?