Tiffany said 3/2...

Hi Mrs separ sorry this is so late my email literally hasnt been working the whole day. I was actually about to make a new email address to get this to you, and in the process figured out what was wrong. So, sorry again.

Today in class we spoke about the Opium wars. We started by speaking about Britain's interest in Chinese trade and how they had been denied access for a long time. Then we saw a beautifully made slide show about the origins of opium. Mrs. Separ explained how opium was used as early as in the civilization of Mesopotamia, where it was considered a joy plant and of great use in their religion. We saw that people considered opium to be a great plant that could heal sickness and relieve pain. We all commented on the woman giving her child opium cough syrup to shut it up and help it not feel as much pain when it was teething, and the fact that Mrs. Separ said she would do the same thing with her twins. Adults also used opium in medicines, and one in particular contained the word heroin in its name. Mrs. Separ explained that heroin and opium are similar in that they are very physically addicting. The Chinese got so addicted to this drug when it was introduced by the British, that they even set up opium dens, which are comparable to teahouses in that they were just places where you could sit, relax, and smoke. 90% of the Chinese population was addicted to opium, and this wasn't only the poor, uneducated people, but also the rich rulers of government. The Chinese administration could not stand this and decided to go to war with Britain, who refused to withdraw their opium business. This created the opium wars, which lasted from 1839 to 1842. The British was much stronger than the Chinese because of their use of gunpowder and their advanced navy, while the Chinese only used swords. The British signed the Treaty of Nanjing, and there were no Chinese representatives present, which is why the Chinese called it the "unequal treaty." The British were given many rights in China such as the extraterritoriality, which means that a British man living in China was subject to British laws, not those of the Chinese. The British had a blatant disregard for the customs of the Chinese, and their well being.

The next person to blog will be Connelly