Historians are aware that imperial China had ties to the American Revolution. Indeed, James Fichter wrote that “tea, though an Asian commodity, helped bring about American independence.” Tea, which was shipped from China into Britain and then re-exported to Britain’s American colonies, formed part of Britain’s controversial taxation agenda for the said colonies during the 1760s and 1770s. Therefore, this commodity was often ridiculed by the colonists. Fichter also commented on how, post-1783, the newly independent United States developed trading relations with China (beforehand they had been largely prevented from doing so by Britain’s regulatory Navigation Acts).[1] In due course, these American merchants proved formidable commercial rivals to their European counterparts trading in the East. The impact of the American War (1775-1783) upon British commerce at the Chinese port of Canton has also been studied.[2]
China’s ties to the American Revolution and War of Independence often remains over-looked in textbooks and popular histories of the subject. These publications mention how the war gradually escalated between 1777 and 1780 to include the French, Spanish and Dutch as belligerents against Britain. Henceforth, this clash of European empires generated a “war beyond America” reaching the West Indies, Africa and India.[3] Yet China – one of the most powerful nations during the eighteenth century – is rarely incorporated into these texts. Highlighting China’s ties to the origins of the American Revolution, analysing how the war affected British trade at Canton, and determining what the consequences were for the Eastern trades after 1783, further develops the view that the American Revolution had global implications.
Chinese Tea: A Contributor to Revolution
The English (later British) East India Company had traded with China since the seventeenth century, and enjoyed the monopoly of British trading interests with the East. By the eighteenth century Bengal in India was the Company’s primary trading destination, and, because of their relative geographical proximities, the southern Chinese port of Canton and Bengal became economically aligned. Canton also became the only Chinese port open to European commerce by the 1760s. Hence East India Company (EIC) ships sailed between both destinations, and the Company also chartered private vessels under special licenses between India and China (the country trade). Goods and manufactures from British vessels sent to China were used to purchase Chinese silk and tea, which in turn were exported back to Britain. From the Chinese perspective, thirteen commercial firms (Hongs) were the sole legitimate agents of trade with the Western nations transacting business at Canton. At various times these Hongs had formed a guild (Cohong) to strengthen their positions. This guild had been disbanded in 1771, but was later resurrected in 1782 and lasted until 1842.[4]