Publication Date
12-15-2019
Document Type
Working Paper
Advisor
Professor John Hall
Journal of Economic Literature Classification Codes
F14, F51, F54, N82
Key Words
American Colonialism, Chinese History, Opium Trade
Abstract
This inquiry seeks to establish that American merchants exacerbated China’s 19th century opium epidemic. Circumventing Britain’s monopoly of Indian opium, three men, Thomas Perkins, John Cushing, and Robert Forbes, played a key role in American consolidation of Turkish opium production. With malice and blatant disregard, numerous Americans pumped tens of thousands of chests of opium into China, creating fabulous riches and incredibly influential familial dynasties while simultaneously destroying the minds and bodies of an untold number of Chinese.
Rights
© Karson M. Pence
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Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/30818
Citation Details
Pence, Karson M. "The American Opium Trade, Working Paper No. 37", Portland State University Economics Working Papers. 37. (15 December 2019) i + 17 pages.