When Trade Fueled Addiction: The Opium Wars and the Cost of Profit

The Opium Wars aimed to educate China who were falling behind the innovative world of the West. In reality, a variety of factors motivated these wars, and this article briefly explores the political, economical and social causes and effects of the First Opium War, as well as what we can learn from it.

The Opium Wars between China and Britain clearly display the impact a drug can have on a population, as well as how political and economical imbalances created and magnified the opium problem. Britain’s military advantage allowed them to make treaties which heavily restricted China, and Britain’s desire to profit from opium trade caused widespread addiction to opium in China.

The Opium Wars consisted of two conflicts between the Qing dynasty and the Western powers, namely Britain, including the First Opium War (1839–42) and the Second Opium War (1856–60). The namesake of the wars, opium, is a narcotic drug that can be obtained from the unripe seedpods of the opium poppy.

A brief timeline of the Opium Wars:

• 1729: Opium was banned for recreational use but not medical purposes by an emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
• 1820: The illegal trade of opium from India to China by foreign traders, mostly British, increased. There was widespread addiction to opium in China.
• 1839: The start of the First Opium War. All opium trade became illegal. Chinese rulers confiscated and destroyed over 20,000 containers of opium from British merchants.
• Later that year, British warships demolished the Chinese blockade of Pearl River. Over the next few years, British campaigns easily defeated Chinese troops.
• 1842: Treaty of Nanjing was signed.
• 1843: Supplementary Treaty of the Bogue was signed.
• 1856: The Second Opium War started due to China boarding the British ship Arrow. Trading stopped due to conflicts.
• 1858: French and British troops reached Tianjin. Treaties of Tianjin were signed. Later that year, opium trade was made legal.

Economic and Social Causes

In the early 1800s, Chinese goods such as porcelain, silk and tea were in high demand with Europe, giving China an advantage in the trade market with Britain. Since British products had correspondingly less demand, British merchants had to pay for Chinese goods with silver, leading to a silver drain for England. Solving this chronic trade imbalance, British merchants began exporting opium from India to China. Controlling this trade, the British East India Company shipped opium into China through private merchants, as the trade was still illegal and the company did not want to risk conflict with Chinese authorities. In the 1830s, opium made up two-thirds of all British imports to China.

Ensuring profitable trade with China was one of Britain’s motivations to start the Opium wars. In fact, a large proponent of war was William Jardine, a wealthy opium trader. At the time, China was tightening their laws regarding opium trade, with the emperor ordering the destruction of British imported opium.

Foreign traders were only allowed to trade at the port of Canton through special Chinese merchants, a policy referred to as the Canton system. Rooted in their own superiority, the British resented the limitations that this system placed upon them and believed that China should participate in freer trade, a motivation for the war.

In 1793, the Macartney embassy from Britain unsuccessfully negotiated with China to implement new trade rules. George Macartney refused to perform the kowtow, a traditional Chinese act of respect that includes kneeling and bowing. In 1841, John Adams, after corresponding with Macartney, agreed that the Canton system of trading solely at one port represented “the arrogance and insupportable pretensions of China” to not be willing to freely trade with other countries.

Political Causes

At the trading port of Canton in the 1830s, the British population was split into opposing parties with varying beliefs: the ‘Warlike Party’ and the ‘Pacific Party’.

Noting the extent of illegal opium smuggling and the disregard for the law, the Warlike party justified their opium trade and pushed for war. The party viewed themselves as superior to the immoral Chinese. Oppositely, the Pacific party recognized themselves as opium smugglers and opposed the war for moral purposes. Traveling back to London in 1835, the Warlike party aimed to convince the British government to initiate war in Canton to create free trade in China. Their definition of free trade involved British trading wherever and whenever they wished.

As shown in the timeline, in China in 1839, the emperor of the Qing sent Commissioner Lin to Canton to confiscate and destroy over 1,400 tons of the drug warehoused in Canton by a British merchant. This decision reflects the political state in China: the faction of moral hardliners who wanted tighter laws restricting opium trade in China won over their opposition. This action directly challenged British trade, angering the Warlike party. The destruction of opium in Canton inflamed existent political tensions in Britain, ultimately culminating into Britain’s declaration of war.

Social Effects

In 1839, Commissioner Lin wrote a letter to the King of England that he likely never received. In the letter, Lin intended to inform Britain of their policies prohibiting opium trade and encourage Britain to stop trading opium.

He explained:

“There is a class of evil foreigners that makes opium and brings it for sale, tempting fools to destroy themselves, merely in order to reap profit. Formerly the number of opium smokers was small; but now the vice has spread far and wide and the poison penetrated deeper and deeper.”

His words displayed the detrimental effects of opium on China, such as widespread addiction. Lin also brought attention to a paramount moral dilemma: The people in Britain “do not take” opium themselves, yet “continue to make it and tempt the people of China to buy it.”

Opium addiction weakened the workforce, who consequently lost trust in the Chinese government.

Commissioner Lin described that marines on patrol ships spent their time smoking opium, keeping cargos of opium for themselves if they found any. As a result, standards for discipline and morale deteriorated, rendering the soldiers, according to Lin, disgraced weaklings.

Political and Economic Effects

After Britain’s military victory, the Treaty of Nanjing and the Supplementary Treaty of the Bogue were signed. These treaties fulfilled many goals of Britain’s Warlike party and heavily restricted China.

The treaty forced China to cede the territories of Hong Kong and other islands to Britain, dismantled the Canton system by creating five treaty ports, and required China to pay a fee to Britain for the opium destroyed. The supplementary treaty allowed Britain to set up courts to try British subjects in China and established Britain as the “most favoured nation,” a status which ensured that China chose their side in future conflicts.

These concessions stripped China of power in their own lands and placed China under Western authority, contributing towards their “Century of Humiliation.”

Although this article focuses on the First Opium War, another important note is the forced legalization of opium after the Second Opium War.

Conclusion

The Opium Wars serve as a clear illustration of how political and economic forces influence a country’s power, what morals are followed and how people become addicted to drugs. Britain’s sense of superiority and greed led them to ignore the widespread disruption caused by their importation of opium. They justified their trade accordingly.

From this conflict, we can recognize the importance of following ethical limits in trade and diplomacy and adhering to moral codes over profit. The Opium Wars also serve as a reminder to identify one’s biases when evaluating current or historical conflicts and dig deeper to find the true causes of an event.