The Opium Wars

China is a very old country with ideals that have lasted more than two thousand years. The Chinese people were satisfied with their way of life and had little interest in the nations of the Western Hemisphere. Tea which is grown in China, had become a big drink in Great Britain. China would have rather not traded with the British. They were going to trade with Britain only if they used there port in Canton. They did not want western ideas in their society.The British decided they needed to "balance their trade." That means that they must buy and sell to China, not just buy. So they decided to sell Opium. Western Civilization has grown and prospered in the past millennium because of trade. so they tried to keep that going.

Opium is a drug grown in India. Opium is used to make morphine and heroin. Opium is made from poppi seeds. The Chinese government outlawed the import of Opium because of the debilitating effects of the drug.In 1838, China ruled that anyone dealing in Opium would be put to death. Shortly after that, government official began to destroy any opium coming into their land. This brought war, henced the name "The Opium Wars".

The Opium War lasted from 1839 to 1842. The British firepower was way better than China. So China took a humiliating defeat. The governments signed a peace treaty that allowed the British to use five ports instead of one. The Chinese also lost control of the important island of Hong Kong. Eventually, China was also forced to legalize the selling of opium. The treaty that ended the Opium War was the first of many "unequal treaties" with the west. It began a century of invasion and humiliation for a very proud nation.