Causes of the Opium War
Historians have christened the wars fought between China and Britain from 1839 to 1842 and from 1856 to 1860 as "The Opium Wars"; however, the Opium Wars really were not about opium. Even President John Quincy Adams asserted, "The seizure of a few thousand chests of opium smuggled into China by the British government was no more the cause of the Opium War than the throwing overboard of the tea in the Boston harbor was the cause of the North American Revolution" (Chung, 1). In fact, one may argue that China's tributary mentality, the "Canton System of Trade," and imperialistic aggression caused the so-called "Opium Wars." The Chinese name for China, Ch'ung Kuo, meant "Heavenly Middle Kingdom," or more accurately: "Center of the World." The Chinese had developed a tributary mentality, a belief that China, as the Middle Kingdom, was the center of the civilized world and that all countries that desired relations with it must behave deferentially. Consequently, there was little room in China's world-view for the idea of independent equal nations. Moreover, China's foreign policy prior to and during the Ch'ing Dynasty was dominated by a sense of innate superiority. In fact, when King George III dispatched Lord Macartne
Trade in Canton was characterized by corruption and irregular exactions. In addition to the tariff on goods, mercantile vessels were subject to a variety of duties and levies upon arrival in Canton. These duties and levies "...went into the pockets of the Hoppo (customs superintendent), the examining officers, the scribes, and the attendants - which accounted for their irregularity" (Hsu, 148). However, these irregular exactions were only one source of conflict between the Chinese and English in Canton; the Chinese system of justice was another. In the contest to colonize the world, China represented the last prize in the Far East for European countries. The Opium War was merely the first step designed to open the "China Market" and its resources for exploitation. Under the "Canton System," commercial firms known as "hongs" were responsible for foreign trade and traders. The foreigners, in turn, were restricted by various regulations. For example, foreigners were prohibited from communicating with Chinese officials except through the proper channel of the Co-hong. Furthermore, foreigners were largely confined to their factories and kept outside the walls of Canton. Chinese notions about justice and punishment differed greatly from those of the West. There was no "due process of law." Additionally, under Chinese law
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Approximate Word count = 917
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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