First Opium War
The First Opium War began in 1839 and was fought over trading rights, open trade, and especially diplomatic status. In the eighteenth century, China had a trade surplus with Europe, selling porcelain, silk, and tea in exchange for silver. In the late 18th century, the British East India Company expanded the cultivation of opium in its Indian Bengal territories, selling it to private traders who transported it to China and passed it on to Chinese smugglers. By 1787, the Company was sending 4,000 chests of opium (each 77 kg) per year.
In earlier times, opium was taken as a relatively harmless medicine, but the new practice of smoking opium recreationally increased demand tremendously and often led to addiction. The Chinese Emperor issued edicts making opium illegal in 1729, 1799, 1814, and 1831, but imports grew as smugglers and colluding officials sought to profit. Some Americans entered the trade by smuggling opium from Turkey into China, including Warren Delano Jr., the grandfather of twentieth-century President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Francis Blackwell Forbes; in American historiography, this is sometimes referred to as the Old China Trade. By 1833, the opium traffic soared to 30,000 chests. The East India Company sent opium to their warehouses in the free-trade region of Canton (Guangzhou) and sold it to Chinese smugglers.
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