"The Opium War was not about Opium. It was either about the clash of two cultures, or about Britain's desire to expand the trade. It might have been fought over any substance, even molasses or rice."
By 1804 China's purchase of opium had exceeded her ability to sell native products such as tea. This trade imbalance led to a net outflow of silver specie, which destabilized the national economy. This damaging economic aspect of the opium trade was not contingent upon the identity of the trade item itself; any other luxury good in great enough demand might have caused the same economic pressures. For example, the same problem - a net silver outflow instigated by an unequal balance of trade - had occurred in Britain twenty years previously. At this time Britain was consuming over 15 million pounds of Chinese tea per year. Britain had few manufactured goods which China wanted, so the bulk of payments for the tea were of necessity in silver. This outflow of bullion jeopardized the......

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Title: Opium
Approximate Word Count: 571
Approximate Pages: 3 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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