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Amy Hu
Ms. Cha
English 10, Per 3
February 3, 2012
Boston Tea Party Revamped
Could you imagine a world without tea? In the 19th century, tea along with silk were
foreign luxuries many countries wanted. China was home to exporting these goods which made
it a target to many foreign countries. One of these countries included England, as it wanted the
goods China provided. With China isolating itself to the world of “Barbarians”, many countries
weren’t able to meet their own demands of the foreign trade. China’s old trade system was soon
opened up after the events of the First Opium War. China was able to hold off on its own in the
19th century as it was causing England to go bankrupt; however with the introduction of opium in
the market, China was weakened in First Opium War in 1839 (The Opium War and the Opening
of China).
To begin with, many countries that wanted a piece of China’s exports had to pay high
prices to the obdurate country. Before 1940, China was closed off from the world, for the only
port city opened was Guangzhou for 150 years (Larson). As Europe traded wool and cotton with
China, China did not require the surplus of material items (SparkNotes). Many countries wanted
access to China’s exports, but China was a vast empire that was capable of providing for itself
(The Opium War and the Opening of China). China feared that if foreigners were allowed into
the country, they would destroy their country as illustrated quoted by the Court of Peking, "They
had swallowed the Middle East; they would certainly attempt to swallow the Far East. Their
influence upon the population was very disturbing; where they came, honest men turned rascals,
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propriety was forgotten, and rebellions were hatched” (Roebuck). Also, due to European nations
focusing more on individual beliefs, China believed more in community relationships. This
caused China to not industrialize such as Great Britain and France had in the late 18th Century
(Industrial Revolution in China).
Great Britain was the first country to industrialize thanks to plentiful resources in
England. However, as they were using up the materials they had access to, Great Britain needed
a way to gather more raw materials. Not only had Great Britain needed raw materials, but other
Europeans countries as well who were exhausting their natural resources. In the Berlin
Conference of 1844, Great Britain along with other strong nations split up the continent of Africa
and colonized the land that belonged to them. Now with Great Britain colonizing the countries of
Africa they were able to gain economic profit from them. Before the First Opium War in 1839,
England was going bankrupt trading with China, as China only accepted silver for their manmade materials. England tried to discover something that China has never seen before. England
soon discovered that the opium being grown in India might solve the economic problem, so by
smuggling opium into China they could regain the money they had lost. This had a pernicious
effect on the Chinese as they all were desperate to get their hands on opium, even trading away
the silver they gained (Roebuck).
Opium was a real problem for China, as demonstrated in the following statistics it
showed the growing imports of opium: 5,000 chests in 1821 growing to 35,000 chests in 1837,
with approximately 135 pounds per chest (Roebuck). To prevent opium from spreading, the
Emperor of China in 1838 sent Lin Zexu, an official, to dispose of the opium imports (Larson).
Similar to the Boston Tea Party, England wasn’t happy with losing their supplies and the First
Opium War with China soon began. The cause of the war can be illustrated by the following
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quote from President John Quincy Adams: "The seizer of a few thousand chests of opium
smuggled into China by the Chinese government was no more the cause of the Opium War than
the throwing overboard of the tea in the Boston harbour was the cause of North American
Revolution” (The Opium War and the Opening of China). China was enervated when the war
began as foreshadowed in this quoted from a government official: "If we continue to allow this
trade to flourish, in a few dozen years, we will find ourselves not only with no soldiers to resist
the enemy, but also with no money to equip the army" (The Opium War and the Opening of
China). With these factors in play as well as England being a strong industrialized nation, victory
was secured by England (Larson). After this, China had to acquiesce to signing the Treaty of
Nanjing in 1842, which allowed British free trade in China, as well as reimbursing England for
the destroyed supplies (The Opium War and the Opening of China).
In conclusion, a series of events occurred in China leading a strict trading system into a
widespread business. China started strong; however the introduction of opium from Great Britain
led to their downfall. This caused China to be involved more with the world around them.
China’s trade was ubiquitous throughout the entire world, as Europe opened the five port cities
of China to foreign trade; Canton, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Linbou and Shanghai (The Opium War and
the Opening of China). China had more of a reason to catch up with the foreign competition as
they were behind in industrialization. With England colonizing China and splitting its land to
other foreign countries such as Germany, Russia, France, and Japan, China was given a wake-up
call (China Imperialism). Imperialism shows that nations need to work together to prosper.
Without that history is likely to repeat itself numerous times until a solution is found.
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Works Cited
"China Imperialism." Cartoon. Web. 16 Jan. 2012.
<http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/File:China_imperialism_cartoon.jpg>.
"Industrial Revolution in China." AbsoluteAstronomy.com. Web. 16 Jan. 2012.
<http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Industrial_Revolution_in_China>.
Larson, Shannon. "History: Was China Ever Colonized?" Quora. Web. 16 Jan. 2012.
<http://www.quora.com/History/Was-China-ever-colonized>.
"The Opium War and the Opening of China." Web. 16 Jan. 2012.
<http://historyliterature.homestead.com/files/extended.html>.
Roebuck, Paul. "British Use Drugs to Colonize China." Paul Roebuck: Archaeology, Geography,
Ethics History, Social Theory. Web. 16 Jan. 2012.
<http://www.roebuckclasses.com/105/regions/eastasia/easiahuman/opiumwar.htm>.
"SparkNotes: Imperialism in Asia (1830-1900)." SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study
Guides. Web. 16 Jan. 2012. <http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/18711914/section7.rhtml>.