The First and Second Opium Wars inChina

A battle between Chinese and British soldiers in the First Opium War. Image from the public domain Image from the public

domain

In the 1700s, European nations such as Britain, the Netherlands and France sought to expand

their Asian trade networks. They did this by connecting with the powerful Qing Empire in

China. For more than 1,000 years, China had been the eastern endpoint of the Silk Road and

the source of fabulous luxury items.

European companies, such as the British East India Company and the Dutch East India

Company, were eager to elbow their way in on this ancient exchange system.

The European traders had a couple of problems, though. China was hostile to outsiders.

Foreigners could only trade in the port of Canton and could not enter the rest of China. They

were also banned from learning Chinese. European consumers were crazy for Chinese silks,

porcelain and tea. China, however, wanted nothing to do with European goods. The Qing

required payment in silver. This was costly for the Europeans.

By ThoughtCo.com, adapted by Newsela staff on 10.18.17

Word Count 1,238

Level 1130L

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In the early 1800s, the British East India Company hit upon a second form of payment that

was illegal, yet acceptable to the Chinese traders: opium from British India. The opium poppy

is a type of plant. Its seed pods produce a substance called morphine, which is a powerful

drug. Many different drugs are made from this substance. Today, these drugs are used by

doctors to treat pain. Some people used to and still do take them without a prescription from a

doctor. These drugs can be very dangerous when used this way. Many people used and

became addicted to opium in the 1800s, which caused concern within the Qing Dynasty.

Meanwhile, British trade soared.

The First Opium War

In 1839, China's Daoguang Emperor, the governor of Canton, decided to act by confiscating

20,000 chests, a small fortune worth of British opium, and ordering that it be destroyed.

Outraged, British traders frantically asked the British government for help.

Tensions mounted, particularly on July 7, 1839, when British and American sailors from

several opium ships rioted in Kowloon, killing a man. The British refused to turn the rioters

over to the Chinese. Six sailors were tried in a British court in Canton and, although convicted,

were freed once they reached Britain.

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After this incident, Qing officials declared that no foreign merchants would be allowed to trade

with China unless they agreed to stiff conditions. These conditions included outlawing the

opium trade and submitting to Chinese laws. The British agreed, suspended all trade and

ordered British ships to immediately withdraw from China.

In October 1839, the British Navy blockaded Canton. They did not want to let in any foreign

ships that agreed to China's strict conditions. Qing Navy ships came out to protect incoming

ships. In the resulting First Battle of Cheunpee, the British Navy sank several Chinese ships. It

was the first in a long string of disastrous defeats for Qing forces over the next two and a half

years. The British seized several key ports along China's coastline and then, stunned and

humiliated, the Qing government asked for peace.

The Treaty of Nanking

On August 29, 1842, representatives of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and the Daoguang

Emperor of China agreed to the Treaty of Nanking. This agreement is also called the First

Unequal Treaty because Britain extracted a number of major concessions from the Chinese.

The Chinese were forced to lower their tax on imports into China, and Britain was granted

preferred trade status and its citizens were not subject to Chinese law. China also gave up the

island of Hong Kong to Britain. Finally, the Qing government agreed to pay Britain 21 million

silver dollars for the cost of the war.

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Under this treaty, China suffered economic hardship and a serious loss of its sovereignty,

meaning its power to control its own territory. China had long been the superpower of East

Asia, but the First Opium War exposed its weaknesses. Neighbors, including Japan, were

watching and took note.

The Second Opium War

The United States and France forced Qing officials to agree to similar treaties. The Qing tried

to avoid carrying out the terms of these treaties, but Britain continued to make additional

demands. On October 8, 1856, matters came to a head with a situation known as the Arrow

Incident.

The Arrow was a smuggling ship registered in China but based out of Hong Kong, which had

become a colony of the British crown. When Chinese officials boarded the ship and arrested

its crew of 12 on suspicion of smuggling and piracy, the British protested that the Hong Kong-

based ship was outside of China and therefore China could not arrest the crew. Britain

demanded that China release the ship's Chinese crew under the terms of the Treaty of

Nanjing.

Although the Chinese authorities were well within their rights to board the Arrow, and in fact

the ship's Hong Kong registration had expired, Britain forced them to release the sailors. Even

though China complied, the British destroyed four Chinese coastal forts and sank more than

20 naval ships. China was facing a major internal war called the Taiping Rebellion, which

made it unable to defend against this new British assault.

Many Europeans saw China as a good place to spread Christianity, but the Qing opposed this

outside religion. In February 1856, a French Catholic missionary trying to spread Christianity

was arrested in China and executed. Again, this was done according to Chinese law, but the

French used it as an excuse to join the British in the Second Opium War. Between December

1857 and mid-1858, the Anglo-French forces captured still more Chinese territory. China

surrendered, and was forced to sign the punitive Treaty of Tientsin in June 1858.

This new treaty allowed the United Kingdom, France, Russia and the United States to impose

harsh conditions against China. All of them were geared toward opening up China to foreign

trade and visitors. China also had to pay a huge penalty in silver to compensate the other

countries for the war. Additionally, China had to give up territory to Russia.

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The beginning of the end

Although the Second Opium War seemed to be over, advisers to the Xianfeng Emperor

convinced him to resist the Western powers. This once again set off military conflicts that the

Qing lost. On October 6, 1860, the British and French entered Beijing, where they looted and

burned the Emperor's Summer Palaces.

The Second Opium War finally ended on October 18, 1860. A revised treaty was even more

harsh, requiring China to give up even more territory, especially ports. The treaty also

legalized opium trading and forced China to give equal treatment to Chinese who converted to

Christianity.

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The Second Opium War marked the beginning of the end of China's Qing Dynasty. The

dynasty would die out in 1911. China's humiliations also sparked the Boxer Rebellion of 1900,

a popular uprising against the invasion of foreign peoples and foreign ideas, such as

Christianity, in China. The rebellion was quickly crushed by the foreign powers. China's

problems were also a lesson to Japan. Like Europeans and Americans, Japan seized on

China's weakness to grab territory on the Korean peninsula, events that would have

repercussions well into the 20th century.

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Quiz

1 Read the sentence from the section "The First Opium War."

Tensions mounted, particularly on July 7, 1839, when British andAmerican sailors from several opium ships rioted in Kowloon, killing aman.

The author uses the word "mounted" to mean:

(A) dwindled

(B) plateaued

(C) diminished

(D) peaked

2 Read the sentence from the section "The First Opium War."

In October 1839, the British Navy blockaded Canton.

Which of the following words or phrases from the article provides context clues to the meaning of

the word "blockaded"?

(A) let in

(B) foreign

(C) strict

(D) protect

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3 Read the following paragraph from the section "The Treaty of Nanking."

Under this treaty, China suffered economic hardship and a seriousloss of its sovereignty, meaning its power to control its own territory.China had long been the superpower of East Asia, but the First OpiumWar exposed its weaknesses. Neighbors, including Japan, werewatching and took note.

WHY does the author include this paragraph in the article?

(A) to show how the treaty equally affected both sides of the war

(B) to show why China may not have been satisfied with this agreement

(C) to convince the reader of the effectiveness of this treaty in history

(D) to prove that the treaty would stand strong for at least another 200 years

4 Read the section "The Second Opium War."

What is the MOST LIKELY reason for including information about British demands?

(A) to show the effectiveness of the treaty in bringing peace to both sides

(B) to show how several different countries led the Chinese to starting another war

(C) to demonstrate why the Chinese may have been unhappy with the British

(D) to show how the Qing Dynasty was terminated in ancient China

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