BELLWORK 2-27

• The U.S. trade deficit was $471.5 billion in 2013.• Would you consider it acceptable for the U.S. to

sell narcotics to other countries as a way to decrease this deficit?• Explain your answer.

I N A S I A

BRITISH IMPERIALISM

CHINA AND BRITAIN

• Great Britain came to China and traded for silk and tea.• Chinese tea was considered the

best in the world.• The Chinese tea trade was

monopolized by the British East India Company.

• They were only allowed to trade out of the port city of Guangzhou.• Officials had to live in foreign

settlements outside the city.• They could only trade with

government approved merchants.

FREE TRADE

• Free Trade – The idea that governments should not restrict or interfere with trade.• British traders who were

not part of the British East India Company wanted access to trade in China.

• In 1793 and 1833 Great Britain requested access to more ports in China.• China refused.

• In 1833 the British East India Company is abolished.

OPIUM TRADE

• Britain traded cotton from India for tea from China.• Britain’s desire for tea kept growing.• China’s demand for cotton was limited.• Britain began trading opium from India for tea.• Opium is an addictive drug extracted from Opium Poppies.

CHINA’S RESPONSE

• Chinese opium addiction grew quickly.• This shifted the trade balance

massively in Britain's favor.

• China demanded that Britain stop selling opium.• Chinese officials pleaded with

Queen Victoria to stop the opium trade.

THE OPIUM WAR

• Chinese officials attempted to forcibly stop the trade of opium.• In 1839 war broke out

between Great Britain and China.• Britain had a better armed

and trained army and navy and they defeated China in three years.

• British forces sailed north and took control of Nanjing.

1842 TREATY OF NANJING

• Hong Kong is given to Great Britain.• Five new ports are opened to British trade.• Trade in these ports is subject to a low Chinese tariff.

• British in these ports are subject to only British laws.• “Extraterritoriality”

“UNEQUAL” TREATIES

• Other Western nations wanted to open trade in China.• China signed treaties with

these other nations under fear of invasion.

• China gained little from these treaties.

THE SECOND OPIUM WAR

• In 1856 a series of disputes led China and Britain to go to war again.• With help from

France, England wins again.

• The new “unequal” treaty opens even more ports in China.• The Yangtze River

is opened to trade.

NEW “UNEQUAL” TREATIES

• Christians and their missionaries must be protected by the Chinese government.

• Britain gains an embassy in Beijing.

• Britain gains land across from Hong Kong.

• This opens the door for other foreign powers to open embassies.• Russia will gain parts of Manchuria

including Vladivostok.