HIST362: Modern Revolutions

The British made economic inroads into China as they searched for new markets to trade opium. But instability followed the spread of opium addiction. In 1839, the Qing government confiscated 20,000 chests, with more than one million tons of opium, from a British warehouse in today's city of Guangzhou. The tensions boiled over when the British refused to hand over a sailor the Qing government accused of murdering a Chinese citizen.

Watch this video which describes the political events that followed.