Trade Between China and Britain

In the 19th century China and Britain's relationship weakened as the Chinese got more and more addicted to opium. The British saw this and they sent more opium to China and were able to get a lot of money from the Chinese. The Chinese couldn't live without the opium and the British manipulated this weakness. They exported 32 million spanish dollars worth of opium and cotton and other goods to china, while only importing 23 million spanish dollars of chinese goods. With this trend, the Chinese kept losing money to the British. This is sort of like the ottoman empire controlling trade near the Mediterranean. There really wasn't any other alternative so there was a dependence on trade with the ottomans to get what they wanted. In China, the people were so addicted to opium and there wasn't any other alternative but trade with the British. This is sort of like the US and Saudi Arabia because we are very dependent on foreign oil. The US gets a lot of oil from other countries, mainly Saudi Arabia, and without them, the US wouldn't be able to function like it does today. 

cOPIous OPIum

In China, the British importation of opium flourished. even though it was illegal, the British were able to make from opium more than twice what they made for any other good imported to China. The table shows opium as making up more than 50% of England's income from China, and being more from any of the individual goods imported to England. Based on the chart, England made a whopping 8.6 million Spanish dollars a year, a profit largely due to the illegal opium trade. In short, England milked China's money by getting them addicted to Opium. Because China did not have the ability to create its won opium, it relied solely on ENgland's illegal supply, so all of the money was funneled straight to the British.

Opium Trade

The chart illustrates the change from China as a self-sufficient power to a nation that was largely dependent on another. The opium that China imported from the British brought in more money than the British gained from all other goods. Because opium was so addictive, this ensured a constant flow of money from the Chinese to the British. At this point, nothing could be done because so many were dependent on the drug and, therefore, the British as the means of obtaining it. Not only did this crush China's self-dependence, it crippled their nation financially, losing 8,000,000 Spanish dollars when you look at the full picture. If they were not so dependent on the British for opium, they would gain 10,000,000 dollars from the trade connection.

In many ways, the triangle of trade was very similar to the opium trade. Both relied of some sort of dependence between nations of the world. While the triangle of trade was much more of a mutual need - each country had something they needed and something to give to another country - the opium trade was very much a one way deal. The British hooked China on opium, creating a dependence so that it would have a constant supply of money coming in. Because it wasn't reciprocal, China grew greatly indebted, which contributed to its decline.

Although I don't know a lot about current events, I would guess that there are similarities between the opium trade and the U.S.'s dependence on oil. All of our cars run on it, and it has become a natural and necessary part of our lives to get around. However, because we need it so much, we are forced to import it from other countries. Countries with natural supplies of oil really benefit from this because they recognize our dependence on it. There is a way out, but we have become so ingrained in this way of life that it requires a drastic change to free ourselves from our addiction to oil while we funnel our money into other countries.

Opium Trade

The table on page 567 illustrates how much the British took advantage of China's weaknesses. China had already fallen apart, and their government did not have control of their people. There was also a huge economic problem, because China's natural resources could not provide for their huge population. Because of these weaknesses, Britain knew they could trade with China unfairly and the Chinese government wouldn't be able to do anything about it. The table shows that opium imports were more more than double cotton and other items. The fact that opium was an highly addictive drug, and that everyone wanted it, made it even more difficult for the Chinese government to stop the illegal trade. Not only this, but many Chinese officials were corrupted because they were bribed by the British importers, and because of their own addictions they were unable to do anything about the problem. Also, the table shows that the money China is gaining (23,852,899 in Spanish dollars) was much less than the money it was losing to Britain for it's imports (32,426,623) which were more than 50% opium.
We can relate this problem to the 21st century because opium is similar to other drug trafficking problems in the world today, such as marijuana.

Opium "Treaty"

Before the opium was introduced to China, the emperor and people of China was not dependant on anybody because they had all the resources they needed. After everybody got hooked on opium and there was more demand for it, China actually relied on Britain more than Britain was looking at China for technology and resources. Since opium trading was illegal in the first place, Britain and China were both ignoring the law and when the Chinese realized that everybody, in their once thought as “perfect” kingdom, became addicts and were bringing their economy down. Because it was illegal, many officials of China were corrupt and the imbalance of silver and the amount of opium rushing through China caused major economic problems. With hundreds of addicts and serious economic problems, British saw China was an open target for an invasion. With the Treaty of Nanjing, British instilled many restrictions on the Chinese, which basically made Britain superior in technology (with Industrial Revolution) and power. This story reminds me of how in France, the government was at its top with the monarchy, then in a matter of a few years, hundreds of people were being murdered on the street and the country was tearing itself apart. It relates to China because when it was superior over all the other countries in the world, the small incident of opium overflowing in their state destroyed China while numerous countries all over the world were overwhelming it. This case definitely occurred many times with other countries around the world where one thinks that they are at the top of the world, then taken down in one quick swoop.

British/Chinese Opium Trade

Opium was a major factor in China's downfall. China imported huge amounts of opium from Britan on the black market, tipping the balence of power both politically and economically in Britan's favor. The Brittish exported more Opium to Canton than any of their goods combined. It undermined China's laws and proved to other nations to be easily taken advantage of, and all around weak. Corruption and addiction consumed China, not only it's officials but also it's commoners. Not only was the illegal trade of goods weakening it, but the goods itself, opium weakened it. It would have been less catastrophic if the illegal trade had been something else that was less destructive. When the weakened Chinese government tried to fight back the Brittish and reduce their country's dependency on the British, they only slipped further. China tried to rebel against the Brittish, but they lost and fell further down the political food chain. After winning the Opium wars, the Brittish made rules for trade tipped even more in their favor, establishing almost complete dominance over the Chinese government.

Opium, Opium, Opium

The opium trade between Britain and China flipped the tables of global power. Before opium was introduced the the international trading market, China had control. They exported more goods and had more power, and for a while they were impossible to take down. However, China did not have an Industrial Revolution, and soon their ability to help themselves started to crumble, thus making Britain's introduction of opium toxic. The exportation of opium soon earned more money than all of the Chinese exports. Not only did this export beat China's exports economically, but opium had already started to spread throughout China and ruin everything that had previously worked well. Opium is a highly addicted drug, and soon, everyone in China had their hands on it. Formerly good leaders fell under the spell of opium addiction, as did many other people in high power positions. Opium was consequently outlawed, but the damage had already been done. Britain took advantage of the weaken China state and declared war for making their most powerful export illegal. Each one of the Opium Wars severely lowered the amount of power that China had on the rest of the world. With just the exportation of one addicting good, China lost control of the global economy and fell to the hands of a nation they once called barbarians.

Analysis of Chinese/British Trade

Just by looking at the table of Chinese/British trade at Canton from 1835-1836 we can see that Britain relies heavily on its opium exports. Opium makes up about 60% of British exports to China. We can also see Britain's reliance on opium because besides cotton, it doesn't really make much money from other exports. They had to come up with an "all other items" label to show the rest of the money Britain made from exports because basically its opium and nothing else. If you cut out Britain's opium exports entirely, they would have a $10 million trade deficit with China. Instead Britain has an $8 million surplus, bolstering their economy while weakening China's.

Also, millions of Chinese people became addicted to opium and their officials became corrupted. Opium was illegal and so the officials were often bribed to allow opium to be smuggled into the country.

In reality, dependence on opium was what really "poisoned China," as opposed to Hong Xiuquan's claim that the Qing being from Manchuria was what brought down China.

The idea of one good, or idea, or weapon or whatever, that gave Britain the edge over China can be applied to the Industrial Revolution and to the Ming Dynasty's famed fleet. The IR and China's inability to modernize gave Britain a huge advantage that tipped the scales away from China towards Europe and especially Britain. Back in the day, the main reason why the Ming Dynasty was the most powerful nation in the world at the time was because of its enormous fleet. Both countries at one points or another had that one irreplaceable quality that gave them the edge.

Opium Trade

The table on page 567 illustrates the trade from Canton to Britain, and from Britain to Canton.

Opium made up more than half the value of the items being shipped to Canton from Britain. The rest was made up of cotton, and other items such as sandlewood, lead, tin, and objects. Opium is extremely addictive, so the Chinese would have a difficult time trying to stop importing it. Even though it was illegal, many corrupt officials turned a blind eye because there were so many addicts. This was a good strategy on the part of the British, since the opium trade would be difficult to stop. The total exports from Britain to Canton made up $32,426,623 (in Spanish dollars.)

The items being imported from Canton to Britain was made up of more than 50% tea. The rest of the items included silk, vermilion, and other goods, such as silver, gold, and sugar. The total value of these imports was $23,852,899 (in Spanish dollars.)

The value of the exports was greater than the value of the imports, meaning China paid more money to Britain than they got in return. The actual difference was: $8,573,734 (on Spanish dollars.) Britain was making a huge profit in this trade, while China fell hard with economic problems.

Britain bullied China, like a strong kid might bully a weak child. It took advantage of the fact that many Chinese were addicted to Opium, to keep selling it to them, even if it was against Chinese law. The British saw an opportunity to not only make a profit, but to also disadvantage the Chinese.

This reminds me of the slave trade. Britain gave up weapons and money, but they got luxury goods in return. Although I'm uncertain of the value of these goods, I'm assuming that the trade off was profitable to the British.

Opium

Throughout its history, China had always been a strong, powerful country that answered to no one. However, this all came crashing down with the onset of the opium wars. In the mid-nineteenth century, opium made up more than half of British exports to China. China's exports also totaled up to only 2/3 the profit of Britan's, advancing Britan's benefits from trading with China. British opium not only created great monetary benefits for them, but it weakened China by creating opium addicts and a strong black market. This opium trade eventually led to the Opium wars, which not only shrank China from its original superpower to a submissive mouse, but gave other countries huge control over the trade and progress of the country. Japan, Russia, Britan, France and Germany all controlled permanent ports in China where they traded with very little tax. This benefitted the countries and left China unable to help itself or regain its old strong leadership and military power.

The Role of Opium in Trade Between Britain and China

Opium paved way for a heavy British presence in China. It was the main product that Britain exported to China and it became to cause major problems for China. It's popularity caused the British to gain the upper hand in Trade relations between the two countries. It was instrumental in Britain gaining a foothold in China. The table on page 567 demonstrates the drug's popularity and in China, as well as its huge impact on trade. More importantly it shows that because of Opium's popularity, China began to lose money by maintaining trade with Britain because they were importing more British goods then they were exporting Chinese goods; this also gave Britain a chance to spread its culture into China, which had been much harder before. The use of opium in the trade between China and Britain reminds me of how European powers exploited their trade partners in the slave trade by slowly gaining large presences in Africa while African kingdoms weakened each other in their own small wars, allowing them to be conquered easily.

Opium Trade

The opium trade made China become very reliant on Britain economically. Although it was illegal in China, there was always more and more demand for opium as it spread through the country. Prior to the opium trade, China was dominant (especially in their own views) and quite self-sufficient. However, since there was no opium in China, when it first hit China, the reliance on Britain became very high. This was the first time in which China actually relied on Britain more than Britain relying on China. As opium became an addiction that many Chinese people fell to, and Britain benefitted from giving away part of their surplus of opium, there was a role reversal between China and Britain. Britain suddenly used its trade successfully to assert its dominance over China. As Britain traded opium, in return they received new technology and ideas from China, as well as a stimulus in their economy. After Britain displayed its dominance over China, it seemed incredible that China had previously called Britain "barbaric" and thought so much more of themselves than any other country in the world.

Drugged into Complacency

The opium trade allowed the British many advantageous concessions that would not have been possible in any other case. Without opium, the British would have been far out-traded in any exchange with the Chinese because, in general, the latter had more useful goods to sell, such as silk and tea. Though even these were luxury goods, they were not quite so frivolous or nefarious as opium. At least with cloth, one could do something productive, but opium actually prevented good progress. Even more, if the British did not have access to opium, the goods that they traded would have been far outweighed by what the Chinese had to offer, leaving them with the shorter end of the stick. As it was, the British earned nearly 9,000,000 more in Spanish dollars than the Chinese did from their exchange.
This was a notable disadvantage to China in more ways than one. Now, with this difference in earnings, China had suddenly become dependant on Europe, and Britain in particular, where it had never been so before. Not having experienced this, it did not know to be suspicious. Beyond even this, the trade of Opium was illegal which meant that both the British and the Chinese themselves were ignoring the law. This was empowerment to the British because they now felt that there were no repercussions for such actions, and for the Chinese this could only be a source of weakness and corruption. More and more, the usefullness of the country would falter in the face of addiction. This left them open for easy attack and any argument against growing European power would only provide an excuse for invasion.
This kind of invasion and destruction through trade reminds me a little of trade with the African tribes for slaves in that what passed was a corruption of the pride of each country that weakened them in future. Corruption was present in both, on the part of the country that ultimately fell. Having corruption be the sources of weakness and downfall also hearkens back to the history of China itself - the Ming dynasty fell to the Qing because of revolts against corrupt government. This method may not have been used before, but there were certainly other cases of the country burning from the inside out.