Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1994 Palmerston, Parliament and Peking: The Melbourne Ministry and the Opium Crisis, 1835-1840. Glenn Paul Melancon Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Melancon, Glenn Paul, "Palmerston, Parliament and Peking: The eM lbourne Ministry and the Opium Crisis, 1835-1840." (1994). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 5891. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/5891 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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PALMERSTON, PARLIAMENT AND PEKING: THE MELBOURNE MINISTRY AND THE OPIUM CRISIS, 1835-1840 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of History by Glenn P. Melancon B.A., University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1989 B.A., University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1989 M.A., University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1991 December 1994 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DMI Number: 9524471 DMI Microform Edition 9524471 Copyright 1995, by tJMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. with the sword at their throat they have become members of what is facetiously called the 'Brotherhood’ of Nations! William Hunter, an "Old Resident" of the foreign factories in Canton, 1825-1842 The 'Fan Kwae’ at Canton: Before Treaty Days (London, 1882; reprint, Shanghai, China: Oriental Affairs, 1938), 95. XI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS As a student I sceptically read acknowledgments, doubting whether or not an author truly needed to thank all of the people mentioned. Now that I have completed my dissertation, my doubts have vanished. I built up myriad debts along the way and to mention them all would take an inordinate amount of time. I will begin by thanking the Broadlands Trust for permission to use Lord Palmerston's papers, and Christopher Woolgar, along with his staff in Southampton University Library's special collection room, for their help in using those papers. Charles Triche of the University of Southwestern Louisiana's Dupre Library and Leslie Schilling, Director of USL's Humanities Resource Room, also deserve special recognition. Without them I could not have lived in Lafayette while working on my dissertation. I would also like to express my gratitude to my committee: Professors Meredith Veldman, Karl Roider, John Henderson and Victor Stater. My appreciation for my mentor. Dr. Veldman, grows with each day. She provided me with the freedom to pursue my own academic interests while furnishing me with clearly stated expectations and standards. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Next, I extend my appreciation to Vaughan Baker and Amos E. Simpson. Since I left USL with a Master's degree, they have not stopped teaching me how to be a better human being. Their continued friendship and guidance have taught me that the study of history is only a means to an end-- creating a better world for my family and friends. Finally, I would like to thank God for the support and patience of my family. My perseverance can be matched only by my wife Jackie's; she has placed her needs on the back burner while I read numerous books, traveled to England and spent the summer writing. I also need to mention my sons, Christopher and Alexandre, for providing me with much needed, although not always welcomed, breaks from my work. IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................... iii MAP 1 ................................................ vi MAP 2 .................................................. vii ABSTRACT ............................................. viii INTRODUCTION ......................................... 1 CHAPTER 1 THE GREAT REFORM ACT AND DEREGULATION OF THE CHINA TR A D E ................20 2 "CHINA BELONGS TO PALMERSTON"......................44 3 INTERNAL DISSENSION ............................. 74 4 FAILURE TO TAKE H E E D .............................103 5 CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE ........................... 134 6 THE DECISION TO WAGE W A R ........................ 166 7 "THE OPIUM AND THE CHINA Q U E S T I O N " ...............191 CONCLUSIONS: HISTORIANS AND THE OPIUM W A R ..............222 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 24 0 APPENDIXES A .................................................... 256 B .................................................... 258 VITA .................................................. 261 V Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. MAP 1 M ONGOLIA CHIHLI Chihli Seoul SHANSI Y E L L O fV SEA Yellou/ River SHENSI HONAN JAPAN ANHWEI SZECHWAN h u V p e h A :h e k i a n( HUNAN KIANGSI KWEICHOW I Foochow :UK!EN. KW ANGTUNG KWANGSI FORMOSA I ..Canton ^ ; miles China in the Early Nineteenth Century VI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. MAP 2 Whampoa WHAMPOA ..CANTON Cambridge Barrier WHAMPOA :;^firstBar Honam Honam ^ Danes Island\ 2. Mathcson Pointy 3. Elliot Passa^^ Ç" econd Blenheim Passaoe 4. Dent Point 0 1 2 3 4 5 Passage Anunghpi yChucnpi Boat Island Chain Island Lankit 2. Anson's Bay Lankit. 3. Forts Hsiang-shan ^/^Keiou Lin tin 'ACumsingmtm ^ Sawchow^*^^. Chinshan Nine Islands Broadway Macao Lamm <3 6 P ° Possession Kowlc^n \p Point ^ ^ .C3- Lidrones^!^ ' .«!:7 0 10 miles \ HONGKONG Aberdt t n ^ To Chck Gulf of Canton Vll Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT "Palmerston, Parliament and Peking" is a revisionist work designed to challenge the prevailing economic interpretations of the first Opium War, 1839-1842. Orthodox historiography considers early nineteenth-century Britain as a modern, industrial society and argues that its Government needed to respond violently to the Chinese authorities' suppression of the opium trade in order to protect and expand a lucrative endeavor. Indian opium sales generated revenue for the British-run government in Bengal and paid for Chinese tea, a highly prized commodity in Great Britain. British industrialists demanded war to end the Chinese Government's restrictions on trade, known as the Canton system, thus opening China's market to goods produced by Britain's expanding industrial economy. During the mid-1970s a new interpretation of British society began to emerge which challenges the centrality of modernization to the experience of life in early nineteenth-century Britain. Viewing Britain in the 1830s as a predominantly traditional society, these historians argue that the landed aristocracy remained the dominant order economically, socially and politically. Although Northern industrialists launched their challenge to this viii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. aristocratie order in this period, the limited scope of industrial