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The Opium Wars and the American China Trade

The Opium Wars and the American China Trade

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When the British went to war with China over opium, the Americans were right there — trading, smuggling, and negotiating their own treaty. This episode follows the rise of the American China trade from the 1780s to the Treaty of Wangxia in 1844. We meet the Empress of China, the first US vessel to reach Canton in 1784, and its supercargo Samuel Shaw. We explore how American merchants like John Perkins Cushing and Augustine Heard built fortunes on opium, and how the US government under John Tyler sent Caleb Cushing to secure a treaty that gave Americans the same rights as the British — without firing a shot. The episode also covers the role of Salem and Boston merchants, the emergence of the clipper ships, and the career of Robert Bennet Forbes, who helped open Japan. It's a story of opportunism, legal finesse, and the quiet expansion of American power in East Asia. #OpiumWars #AmericanChinaTrade #TreatyOfWangxia #CalebCushing #SamuelShaw #EmpressOfChina #Canton #JohnPerkinsCushing #AugustineHeard #RobertBennetForbes #ClipperShips #OpiumSmuggling #Cohong #DaoguangEmperor #19thCentury #USHistory #ChinaHistory #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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