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Hi, I'm John Green, this is Crash Course World History, and today we're gonna discuss 19th
century imperialism. So the 19th century certainly didn't invent the empire, but it did take
it to new heights, by which we mean lows, or possibly heights, I dunno, I can't decide,
roll the intro while I think about it.. [theme music]. Yeah, I don't know, I'm still undecided. Let's begin with China! When last we checked in,
China was a thriving manufacturing power, about to be overtaken by Europe, but still
heavily involved in world trade, especially an importer of silver from the Spanish empire.
Europeans had to use silver because they didn't really produce anything else the Chinese wanted,
and that state of affairs continued through the 18th century. For example, in 1793, the
Macartney Mission tried to get better trade conditions with China and was a total failure.
Here's the Qianlong Emperor's well known response to the British: "Hither to all European nations
including your own country's barbarian merchants have carried on their trade with our celestial
empire at Canton. Such has been the procedure for many years, although our celestial empire
possesses all things in prolific abundance and lacks no product within its own borders."
But then Europeans, especially the British, found something that the Chinese would buy:
opium. By the 1830s, British free trade policy unleashed a flood of opium in China, which
threatened China's favorable balance of trade. It also created a lot of drug addicts.
And then in 1839 the Chinese responded to what they saw as these unfair trade practices
with...a stern letter that they never actually sent. Commissioner Lin Zexu drafted a response
/ˈsəmˌTHiNG/
used for emphasis with following adjective functioning as adverb. thing that is unspecified or unknown.
/wəˈT͟Hout/
outside. without it being case that. in absence of.
/ˈpreSHəs/
Being of great value; highly prized. term of address for beloved person.