The Opium War
Matthew Ramirez, Gavin Morrison, Jansyn Cook, Jonelle Fuller
Introduction to the Opium War
The Opium War started all because of China not wanting to receive or to trade Opium with Britain. China didn't want anything from China so they started 2 wars called the Opium Wars.
The Opium War
The Opium War was about Britain wanting to trade Opium to China and, Opium was addictive and it affected people's work and how they acted. Opium was especially a problem with the government and health. Britain wanted to give and trade these resources to China since Britain really wanted some of China's resources. China didn't want anything from Britain since they wanted to grow their empire. So, China didn’t want any more Opium or anything else from Britain.
- This caused 2 wars. Even though that the Opium wars were an illegal act they still had 2 wars. Then the Chinese dumped the opium into the sea. The First war ended on August 19th, 1842. China had to pay around 21 million dollars for the Opium that they threw away. Then China had to pay back Britain for all the Opium that they threw away. The war released great violence and destruction. The second Opium war started after the Guangzhou police boarded a British registered ship, the Arrow, in October 1856 and charged its crew with smuggling.
- So they had open Hong Kong and 5 other countries to trade with instead of having to trade with China and having more wars. But at the end Britain did go into more wars. And they contained to grow their empire. After China Britain went to take over parts of Africa. The Opium War also expanded western influence in China.
Imperialism: Crash Course World History #35