I was recently approached by the U.S. National Archives Dept. and asked to
contribute a few words for a new exhibit on tea and early Philadelphia. The
exhibit, based in the Philadelphia Archives Building, has since been
completed and opened to the public through November 2005. I'm honored to
have been chosen to appear in the exhibit's catalog along with two tea
heavyweights, James Norwood Pratt and Diana Rosen.
After attending the opening of this exhibit, I was truly amazed by how much
detailed information and interesting artifacts the folks at the Archives
were able to recover and portray in such a comprehensive way (special thanks
and congratulations are due to Robin Morris, the multi-talented curator of
this fine exhibit).
As a result of this success, the folks at Adagio have urged me to re-print
my article in this month's TeaMuse for the edification of all tea lovers
that may not be able to attend the exhibit. So, without further adieu, I
present "The Opium Wars: thirst and addiction."
Opium Smokers
In all the tales in the tome of tea, there is no sadder chapter than that of
the Opium Wars. The suffering and misery of these conflicts nearly crippled
an entire empire and afflicted almost four generations. This is the story
of the unconscionable lengths a country went through to fulfill a demand.
In this war, the most damaging weapon was not a sword or a gun or a bomb,
but a drug.
In 18th and 19th centuries, England was willing to spend vast sums of money
on tea. But there were problems: physically taking such large amounts of
money out of England to pay for tea would have collapsed the country
financially. More practically, it would have been impossible to transport
all that money halfway around the world safely to China. The situation was
further confounded in that, while consumers of the West desired tea and
other goods from China, England was unable to find anything China wanted for
which to trade.
It was thanks to England's unquenchable thirst, and the resulting duplicity,
that the world's largest, most powerful monopoly was born, the British East
India Company. Also known as the John Company, it began as a commercial
venture intimately associated with the British government and ended up
practically ruling India. It was there that England, through the British
East India Company, saw the solution: they could grow the inexpensive crop
of opium in the newly occupied land and use it as a means of exchange for
Chinese tea and goods.
Because of its addictive nature, the demand for opium was enduring. This
resulted in lifetimes of addiction for the Chinese, but insured a
practically endless supply of tea and goods for the British East India
Company and, consequently, England.
The Chinese government tried to maintain a forced distance between their
people and the opium distributing "devils". One Chinese noble even wrote an
eloquent and moving letter to the Queen of England herself, begging for an
end to such indecency. Sadly, the letter was never delivered and the
English, with a far superior military force, went to war for "free trade"
(the right of the British East India Company to continue to sell opium).
By 1842, England had amassed enough victories to sign the Treaty of Nanjing
with China. This not only forced China to relinquish rule of Hong Kong over
to the British, but also ensured the British East India Company's continued
sale of opium, undisturbed, until 1908.
While the two main players in this engagement were China and England, other
countries had peripheral roles. France and the United States also played a
role in this tragedy. In fact, Philadelphia itself was not out of reach of
the Opium Wars' iniquitous arms.
Stephen Girard, a long-time Philadelphia resident and one of America's first
millionaires, is generally remembered as a hero. During his residence in
Philadelphia, he loaned millions of dollars to the US Government,
instrumentally aiding in the War of 1812. He also contributed to many local
and national charities (including a college for orphans which became Girard
College), and even helped fight a yellow fever plague.
Stephen Girard
In Mr. Girard's early career, he also dabbled in the Chinese opium trade
himself. Once Chinese military resistance began to increase, however, his
interests quickly diminished and he was out of the game before the War
officially began. During this time, though, he did accrue a solid profit -
a strong foundation for which to build his fortune. In fairness to Mr.
Girard, once he received word of the accounts of the suffering and addiction
plaguing the Chinese people, he made a publicly concerted effort to avoid
directly the trading with opium in any of his trade ventures.
However, it was Girard's bank, appropriately called The Girard Bank, which
was the Philadelphia representative of the Baring Bank. This bank was the
US account holder of the British East India Company. Girard made millions
on this relationship alone.
By the middle of the 1800's, millions of Chinese people, one in every three
adults, were caught in the grasp of opium addiction. The effects of this
affliction were so widespread that the economy of China, once prosperous and
wealthy, went bankrupt for nearly twenty years. And this was all catalyzed
by a tenacious thirst for tea. So the next time you are enjoying a "Green
Tea" Frappuccino on a lazy Sunday afternoon, remember: the life of tea has
not always been so sweet.
