Old China Trade - Origins

Origins

The Second Treaty of Paris in 1783 ceased Anglo-American hostilities after the American Revolutionary War and subsequently freed American trade from British control. Unsurprisingly, American merchants exploited their newfound liberty, eagerly hunting all over the world for new ways to make a profit. Unfortunately for the Americans, the British, not wanting their former colonies to become a new rival in the already-existing Atlantic trade, had effectively closed their remaining Atlantic colonies, as well as those of other European nations, to American merchant vessels; British harassment or seizure of American ships trading with European Atlantic colonies was common. As a result, the American traders, now deprived of a trade that had been so essential to the American colonies before, were forced to search for ports that were less European-dominated. In their searches, they found the Chinese market.

Trade with China was by no means a new trend: since the voyage of Marco Polo and the days of the Silk Road, the Chinese had established a tradition of trade with the West. Therefore, by the time the Empress of China, the first American merchant ship to reach China, arrived in Canton in 1784, China was already engaging in an active trade with the British at Canton and the Portuguese at Macau. However, China, while having firm relations with Europe, was not dominated by it as the ports of the Caribbean and Atlantic were; therefore, it was an opportune destination for American merchants to establish a new trading route. For the most part, the Chinese allowed them to do so.

Upon realizing that America was its own sovereign nation, the Chinese were convinced that the Americans would not interfere with pre-existing Anglo-Chinese trade agreements since American businessmen arrived as private traders without representation from the American government. This relatively open yet somewhat indifferent attitude towards American traders allowed them to gain a grip on the Chinese market.