The Opium Wars

The Opium War

Part 1: Origin of the Opium War
After the Chinese government sought to halt the illicit opium trade, the First Opium War
broke out in 1839. Since the early 1800s, the British had been smuggling opium into China from
India under their authority (Duiker and Spielvogel 638). The trade had gone so far by the 1830s
that the Chinese government was losing money from legitimate imports and trade of the product.
The British opium was seized and burned by the Chinese government to halt the illegal opium
trade, and as a result, the first Opium War broke out. The British imported more from China than
they were exporting, which led to a trade imbalance with the Chinese (Duiker and Spielvogel
639). Because they could not send to China as much as they imported, the British turned to
opium to balance their trade. In response to the British opium traffic, the Chinese outlawed it and
destroyed any detected quantities.
Part 2: Primary Source Analysis

Commissioner Lin's Letter, 1839

1. According to Lin, the opium trade was unfair and unlawful since it was addictive and bad
for the Chinese people. He also made the case that the trade hurt the Chinese economy.

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His argument holds up to scrutiny since facts supported it. Lin gave specific examples of
opium's addictive nature, its dangers, and the devastation it had done to China's economy.
2. Lin noted that the trade balance was not even. The British received tea, silk, and
porcelain from the Chinese, while the Chinese received opium from the British.
3. No. In his letter, Lin made an effort to defend China's trade embargo policies. He
maintained that rather than merely trading for their gain, the Chinese did it for the good
of all humanity. There is no proof supporting this assertion, though; it doesn't seem
possible that the Chinese would participate in trade for strictly altruistic motives.
Lord Palmerston's Instructions to Sir Henry Pottinger respecting Opium, May 1841
1. Palmerston's proposal does not address the underlying source of the issue, which is the
English opium addiction; hence I do not believe it would have eased tensions between the
English and the Chinese. Palmerston recommended that the English cultivate their opium
in India and sell it to the Chinese rather than continuing to purchase opium from the
Chinese. The English would still have had access to opium; therefore, this would not
have solved the opium addiction issue. Furthermore, considering the animosity between
the two nations, it seems improbable that the Chinese would have been eager to purchase
opium from the English.
2. I concur with Palmerston when he said that the English could not assist the Chinese in
stopping the importation of opium. His underlying point, in my opinion, is that the
English were unwilling to assist the Chinese in stopping the importation of opium since
they were profiting greatly from the trade. Palmerston made it plain in his speech that the
English government would not take any action to halt the trade. Additionally, it's because
other nations participated in the opium trade in addition to the English. Although the

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English were the most powerful country participating, there were also traders from the
United States and France.
3. Palmerston saw the Chinese as potential strong trading partners but not as equals. He also
viewed the Chinese government as corrupt and unreliable. To safeguard British interests,
the British government needed to be more involved in controlling the opium trade in
China.

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Works Cited

Duiker, William J., and Jackson J. Spielvogel. World History,