Opium Wars

Opium Wars

Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy. Opium contains approximately 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade and for legal medicinal use in some countries.

The Opium Wars, also known as the Anglo-Chinese Wars, were the First Opium War from 1839 to 1842, and the Second Opium War from 1856 to 1860. These were the climax of disputes over trade and diplomatic relations between China under the Qing Dynastyand the British Empire. 

The Treaty of Nanking was signed on the 29th of August 1842 to mark the end of the First Opium War (1839–42) between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Qing Dynasty of China. It was the first of unequal treaties against the Chinese because Britain had no obligations in return.

This painting is titled Battle at Canton, then known as Guangzhou, depicts one of many fights in the more bloody Second Opium War, taking place from 1856-60.

A British Clipper ship which is used to transport illegal opium from India into China. These ships held dozens of chests-worth in opium and morphine, facilitating an expedient trade of these drugs.

In 1834 to accommodate the revocation of the East India Company's monopoly, the British sent Lord William John Napier to Macau. He tried to circumvent restrictive Canton Trade laws that forbade direct contact with Chinese officials by attempting to send a letter directly to the Viceroy of Canton. The Viceroy refused to accept it, and closed trade starting on 2 September of that year. Lord Napier had to return to Macau (where he died a few days later) and, unable to force the matter, the British agreed to resume trade under the old restrictions.

Following the Battle of Plassey in 1757, in which Britain annexed Bengal to its empire, the British East India Company pursued a monopoly on production and export of Indian opium. The monopoly began in earnest in 1773, as the British Governor-General of Bengal abolished the opium syndicate at Patna. For the next fifty years opium trade would be the key to the East India Company's hold on the subcontinent.

In the 18th century, Britain had a huge trade deficit with Qing Dynasty China and so in 1773, the Company created a British monopoly on opium buying in Bengal. As the opium trade was illegal in China, Company ships could not carry opium to China. So the opium produced in Bengal was sold in Calcutta on condition that it be sent to China.

Xianfeng was the ninth Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and the seventh Qing emperor to rule over China, from 1850 to 1861. During his reign, the decision of legalizing opium was made, ultimately to keep the drug illegal.

Queen Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 until her death. She also used the additional title of Empress of India, and was presiding over the UK during the time that the East Indian Company was at full throttle.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/heroin/etc/history.html

http://www.victorianweb.org/history/empire/opiumwars/opiumwars1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Nanjing

http://library.thinkquest.org/07aug/01291/Ritvik5.html

 Victoria's Wars: The Rise of Empire. London: Penguin Books. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars#Second_Opium_War_.281856.E2.80.931860.29

Campbell, John; Watts, William (1760). "Memoirs of the Revolution in Bengal, Anno Domini 1757".

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