Opium Wars

Background

In order to offset its trade deficit with China, Britain had begun to illegally export opium to China from British India during the 18th century. While there was great demand in Britain for tea, silk, and porcelain from China, there had been little demand in China for British exports; however, the opium trade quickly flourished and reversed the trade deficit. The Chinese emperor declared a prohibition on the sale and smoking of opium because of the increasing number of addicts, but this ban did not stop the drug trade.

After Britain defeated Bengal (India) in 1757, the British East India Company (a government company) was able to establish a monopoly on the production and exportation of opium in India that lasted for nearly a century. Despite China's ban on the importation of opium, British exports of opium to China skyrocketed from an estimated 15 tons in 1730 to 75 tons in 1772, shipped in more than 2,000 “chests,” each containing 140 pounds (64 kilograms) of opium. In 1799, the Chinese Empire again banned opium imports; however, the ban had little effect because the Chinese government in Beijing could not stop merchants from smuggling opium into China from the south. This, along with the addictive properties of the drug, the desire for more profit by the British East India Company, which had been granted a monopoly on trade with China by the British government, and the fact that Britain wanted silver, greatly increased the opium trade. By the 1820s, China was importing 900 tons of opium from Bengal each year.

In the summer of 1833, the East India Company's monopoly on trade to China was abolished by the British Parliament. This provided an incentive for other nations to increase private trade with China, including trade in opium. The Americans and the Portuguese soon joined the opium importation business. The British sent a new representative, Lord Napier, to open up more trade with China, including legal trade in opium. Although Chinese leaders were debating the legalization of opium, in 1838 the Chinese government imposed the death sentence on Chinese traffickers. It is estimated that Britain was selling about 1,400 tons of opium a year to China. Of course, British subjects were not subject to Chinese laws.

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