FIRST OPIUM WAR

OPIUM

• Opium is a dried latex drug
• Containing 12% morphine
• Usually chemically processed to make herion
• Opium is made from the poppy flower
• First being cut open to let the latex drip from the flower

LATEX
a milky fluid found in many plants, such as poppies and spruce, that drips from the plant when it is cut and hardens because the exposure to the air. The latex of the rubber tree is the chief source of natural rubber.

HEROIN
a highly addictive pain relieving drug derived from morphine, often used illicitly as a narcotic producing euphoria.

opium
The Sumerians called it “Hul Gil” or joy plant.
The opium drug causes hives, whelps, nausea, vomiting ,anxiety, blurred vision, chills, confusion, slow or fast breathing/wheezing, dilated pinpoint eyes, hallucination, headache, and many more.

OPIUM DENS

• Opium dens were used for sites to buy and use opium
• You would basically buy the drug then go into a room with a whole bunch of beds and sleep your high off.
• Found in china, USA, U.K., Southeast Asia and other parts of Europe. 

New chapter in trade

The first and second war opened up a new chapter on trade with western countries because after losing the wars they had to sign unfair treaties such as the treaty of Nanjing opening many ports for western trade.
OPIUM IMPORTS TO CHINA FROM INDIA (1 chest = approximately 140 pounds)
In 1773 1,000 chest of opium were trader then in 1790 about 4,000 chests were traded then early 1820's 10,000 chests where traded, in 1828 18,000 chests. in 1839 40,000 chests, in 1865 76,000 chests ,and in 1884 81,000 and that was at its highest peak.

First war (1839-1842)
Britain and China traded things such as tea,porcelain, and silver to Britain and other thing to china as time went by Britain insisted that they greater access to their trade so tea trade went up from 92,000 in 1700 pounds to about 2.7 million pounds and in the 1800's the East Indian company asked for 23 million pounds of tea costing them about 3.6 million pounds of silver. China was sucking their silver supplies down the drain so they got something they could trade back and that just happened to be opium. Opium grew in popularity and as more people grew the crop prices went Down it was cheep enough for everyone to buy addictions soared upward leaving Chinese government shocked at the decrease in silver they where getting.and decrease in silver is bad so they tried to ban opium but the plan back fired they just started a black market for it.

CANTON SYSTEM

• Canton system was a trading system used by China
• Guangzhou(canton) was a large trading port
• Traded rhubarb, silk, spices, and handcrafted articles as westerners desired them.
• Qing dynasty put merchants in charge of trade basically and they put high fees on trade
• So they had a monopoly on trade going in and out of china.

First war continued
* British merchants believed the canton system was responsible for the inability to export goods to balance the imports of Chinese tea and porcelain so Lord George Macartney decided to try and impress the emperor with gifts dealing with astronomy however he was unimpressed with the technology having already seen it a few centuries back after another failed attempt he decided the only way to take down the canton system was by force.

Treaty of Nanjing
In the end the UK won and made china sign the treaty of Nanjing. I looked at excerpts from a textbook and here is what I thought it meant as a child.

TREATY OF NANJING

• How they want to be "friends" as a country and how they are sorry
• The British people and theirs families being aloud to live in the listed areas without bad treatment
• Opening ports to call their own in china ( and listen to how it sounds at the beginning)
• Basically being being able to trade with who ever they wanted and to say you owe us money
• Saying a total money they owe and the payment plan. 

Treaty of Nanjing continued
6.)this one confused me a little but I think it means if they worked for us and you arrested them then lets the charges be dropped.
7.)Saying we want a fair tariff on are goods and we get paid for it and let it be known what the tariff is.


ttp://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/china/nanjing.pdfh

Lin Zexu

• The Chinese appointed Lin Zexu as the governor.  
• He immediately banned all use and trade of opium 
• He made all traders sign a “no opium trade" bond.
• forced foreign traders to give the stocks of opium to be destroyed
• but the plan backfired as Britain took over parts of South China  

WORK CITED

• http://www.deamuseum.org/ccp/opium/effects.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium
• http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/opium_wars_01/ow1_essay01.html
• http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/china/nanjing.pdf
• http://www.drugs.com/sfx/opium-side-effects.html 

work cited

• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/341625/Lin-Zexu