User talk:D Peretin10/sandbox

By the 1820s and 1830s, the British had conquered parts of India and had intentions of growing cotton in these lands to offset the amount of cotton they were buying from America. When this endeavor failed, the British realized they could grow poppies at an incredible rate. These poppies could then be turned into opium, which the Chinese highly desired. So the British plan was grow poppies in India, convert it into opium, trade the opium in China for tea, and sell the tea back in Britain. Opium sales were highly successful and the drugs were being pushed into China on a ridiculous scale. The Chinese emperor, not wishing to see his country so easy manipulated and wanting to see an end to the opium trade, appointed Lin Tse-hsu to High Commissioner in 1837 to investigate and stamp out the drug trade. His sole objective was to completely remove opium from China. In 1839, Tse-hsu reached Canton and began to arrest thousands of traders and addicts. He confiscated a large amount of opium and closed down every drug den he found. Later in 1839, Tse-hsu wrote to Queen Victoria herself calling on her to help him get rid of opium. With no reply Tse-hsu lost in patience and demanded that the Europeans surrender their opium. When they refused he seized the opium himself and captured upwards of some 20,000 chests of opium and burned. This amount of opium was worth fortunes and the merchants demanded they be compensated for their loss. The local superintendent of trade, Charles Elliot, promised the merchants the British government would compensate them for their losses. Even though he had no authority to promise the merchants anything, Elliot made this promise to deescalate the situation. With tensions already running high between the Chinese and Europeans, it was unwelcomed news when everybody heard that two British sailors had beaten up some local Chinese. Tse-hsu demanded the execution of these sailors but Elliot only tried them on his ship. Tse-hsu felt that Chinese law had been completely disregarded by the Europeans so responded by cutting off all food supplies to the merchants. The merchants retreated to the island of Hong Kong, outside the Canton Bay. When diplomatic attempts to reestablish the food trade had failed, some British merchants were sent ashore to purchase food. However, on their return to Hong Kong the Chinese attempted to seize their supplies and a naval battle broke out. This signaled the beginning of the First Opium War. The British established a blockade outside Canton and demanded they be reimbursed for their opium, the Canton system be abolished, and that Hong Kong be ceded to Great Britain. With all naval and land engagements going the British way, it was clear the Chinese forces were no match for their modernized counterparts. In 1841, the British seized two key forts that controlled the sea route that lead into Canton. After the battles, the Chinese approached the British and offered a truce so negotiations could take place. Elliot and the Chinese negotiator Qishan agreed that the Chinese would give the British six million pounds and in exchange the British would purchase Hong Kong for six million pounds. Also certain trade restrictions would be lifted. Both returned to their superiors believing they had gotten a good deal just to find out Elliot was dismissed and Qishan executed for handing over sovereign territory to a foreign power. So the war was resumed. In 1842, the British had moved north and captured Shanghai which opened to road to Nanking. The Chinese finally realized they had been defeated and agreed to terms with the British. The Chinese agreed to pay the British twenty million pounds as compensation, they would end the Canton system, opened five ports for trading, and ceded Hong Kong to Great Britain. This forcible opening of China by Great Britain altered the path between Hong Kong and mainland China. Hong Kong’s relationship with mainland China went through a major as a result of the First Opium War. While the rest of China developed under the Chinese emperor, a brief republic, and then a communist regime, Hong Kong proceeded forward with the benefit of being a British colony.

Bibliography Beeching, Jack. The Chinese Opium Wars. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975.

D Peretin10 (talk) 15:16, 14 December 2018 (UTC)