Accounts of the British Empire

Analysis on why England forced Opium into China

For over a century Great Britain forced China to allow the importation of opium into China, but the English had classified opium as a poison in their own country for many years. This seems a bit hypocritical, to force a substance you consider dangerous on somebody else, but the British actually did still allow the use of opium at this time. They treated it like the US treats cigarettes now, it’s known to be bad for you and it’s somewhat taboo to do it, but you can still do it if you want (Victorian).
Image result for opium trade
The Chinese government on the other hand was vehemently against opium for a long time and wanted to completely ban the substance. This was a clear breach in morality from Great Britain. It’s essentially the school yard bully forcing a weaker kid to eat dirt except on a global scale, but why would they act like a schoolyard bully? If we take a look at the text England’s motivation is clear, after The First Opium War (a war between England and China involving the opium trade), “For the destruction of this opium, as was well known, we [England] compelled China to pay 6,000,000 dollars”(Fry 450).

If China had to pay that much money for it to be destroyed, then opium sales in China was clearly a huge source of revenue for the British. So clearly Britain was forcing opium on China because they didn’t want to lose out on all that money. Though they did destroy the opium, England's lust for wealth could not be sated. The english continued to smuggle opium into China using the Canton river and its tributaries. They even kept smuggling after the Treaty of Tientsin, which was signed in 1858 and limited the importation of opium to specific duties. Clearly, the sole reason England forced opium on China was their greed and their want to increase their wealth and global power. This isn't the only example of England forcing itself on other countries. The Native Americans were killed and Driven from their homes when the English were colonizing the Americas. All so Britain could increase their wealth and power.

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