Cameron Rao

Mr. Heckler
AP World History
6 March 2016
Opium Trade DBQ

After the Qing made trade with the outside world harder to exist, they found
themselves in a predicament where Britain was smuggling Opium into China and selling
it to the masses. The use and reselling of this drug led to many problems within the Qing
society. During the 19th century, the opium trade had many effects on the Chinese, some
being political weakness (Docs 5, 4, and 9), some being economic changes (Docs 1, 7,
and 8), and some being direct effects on the health of the Chinese people (Docs 2, 3, and
6).
In comparison to any of the European powers of the time, Qing China was quite
weak in comparison. Document 5 was written by a British professor and was addressed to
W. W. Hull. The point of view of this document should be taken into account because this
British professor, Thomas Arnold, was removed from the war and could give the
perspective of a British citizen. Thomas Arnold speaks of how the war between Britain
and China is unjust and immoral with the purpose of selling opium in China. Thomas
says this because he knows that the war is not fair with Britains extremely advanced
naval technology. Proving Thomas Arnolds point, document 4 is a scene of the war
between Britain and China, showing just how big and advanced Britains ships were in
comparison to the un-advanced boats of the Qing. Document 9 includes a couple excerpts

from the Treaty of Nanjing. The document essentially states that British people in China
will be given freedoms within China. The document also states that Britain needs a
trading port near China, so as a result, the Qing forfeited Hong Kong to the British. All of
these documents show how China was greatly overpowered in War, and was required to
act in a fashion similar to that of a hostage with a gun to its neck. The British enforced all
of Chinas actions, and China was slowly becoming completely oppressed. An additional
helpful document would be a record of how much opium was being resold by the Chinese
before the war, and after the Treaty of Nanjing. This document would be helpful in the
sense that the effect of the Treaty of Nanjing could be seen, and one could compare
whether the war had any effect on the amount of opium coming into the country, being
smuggled or traded legally.

In addition to China being much weaker than other European nations, China
found itself in distrust of other countries after many negative interactions with them.
Document 1 is an excerpt from the Two Edicts from the Qianlong Emperor. The point of
view of this document is very interesting in the sense that it cannot be biased due to the
fact that it was written by the Emperor of China, himself, so the edicts have to be in the
best interest of the country. The document is essentially a reply to Macartneys Mission
the China, which tried to establish some amount of regular trade between Britain and
China. The reply to Britain is a simple thanks but no thanks. Document 7 is a chart
that shows that over time the import of Opium from India have dramatically increased.
Where in 1773 only 1,000 chests of opium were being imported, in 1884, 81,000 chests
were being imported. Both of these documents show that over time, Britain strove to

increase their involvement in Chinas economy. An additional document to further prove

this point would be a diary of a Chinese merchant explaining how the Chinese felt about
the increasing British influence on Chinese economy. Document 8 is a letter written to
Queen Victoria advising her to stop allowing her people to sell opium in China. China is
so extremely annoyed with China selling opium that they now threaten the death penalty
to any vendors of opium in China. This is an extreme, however quite necessary measure
for the Qing. In all of these documents, there is clear reason to believe that China began
to build a schema of economic distrust for Britain, which grew greatly over time.

Although the opium trade had many effects on the Chinese government, it also
had many effects on the Chinese people. Document 2, similar to document 8 is another
letter to Queen Victoria. The document urges the Queen to prohibit her people from
selling opium in China. The main argument in this document is that if Britain does not
allow opium in their country, then how can they allow their people, who the Chinese
consider barbarians to sell the opium in China, a practice that is fundamentally wrong.
Another document to help better understand this document would be a diary from Queen
Victoria explaining why she would not ban her people from selling opium in another
country. Of course, there is the clear reason that this opium trade allowed for lots of
economic growth. This document would be interesting in light of the future war between
Britain and China. Document 3 is a document from a working class woman in China. The
point of view of this source is interesting in the sense that it is the only source that is from
the working class in China. This source is unbiased, with no reason to prove anyone else
wrong, and is very informative due to the fact that it shows how people had the choice to

use opium, how not everyone was using the opium, and also how detrimental the effects
of opium addiction were on the people of China. Document 6 is a picture of some
Chinese men smoking opium. The picture serves the purpose of visualizing how opium
use was regular and integrated into Chinese society and custom. All of these documents
how due to opium, there was a spread of psychological reliance on opium, or addiction.
All of this was fundamentally bad for the Chinese people.

In the 19th Century, opium clearly had many disastrous effects on the Qing, some
of these effects being political weakness (Docs 5, 4, and 9), some being economic
changes (Docs 1, 7, and 8), and some being direct effects on the health of the Chinese
people (Docs 2, 3, and 6). All of this lead to the weakening of China as a whole, and the
nation becoming susceptible to future attacks, both from the outside and from the inside.