In China, the memory of the Opium War is a story of national decline and humiliation. 三年以上, 中国政府在一系列断断续续的战争中被打败, 但是血腥的交战最终迫使他们开放港口和割让土地, 包括香港, 去英国, all—as the Chinese and many sympathizers in the West saw it—for the purpose of protecting the illegal, 但利润丰厚的鸦片贸易使中国成为一个吸毒成瘾的国家. 英国商人, 以及紧随其后的美国船长和商人, 看到他们的角色是满足中国对鸦片的巨大需求, 并将业务从广州迁至香港. The treaty that ended the Opium War ratified the seizure of Hong Kong and was the first of many “unequal treaties” with encroaching foreign powers that would follow. Hong Kong became a thriving center of trade—considered an exemplar of unfettered business enterprise in the West, 但, 150多年来, 在中国是外国剥削的象征.

马萨诸塞州历史学会也加入了争论

1841年秋，74岁的前美国总统约翰·昆西·亚当斯(John Quincy Adams).S. 当时的总统是马萨诸塞州的国会代表, agreed to present a public lecture in Boston on behalf of the 麻萨诸塞州 Historical Society. 自1802年以来, 亚当斯一直在, 当他的外交和政治生涯允许的时候, MHS的活跃成员. While his address was the first in a series of lectures on American history designed to raise funds for the Historical Society, Adams chose as his topic the conflict then underway between Great Britain and China—the Opium War.

Earlier the same year, Adams had made his famous defense before the Supreme Court of the 友谊 俘虏——被非法绑架并在古巴作为奴隶出售的非洲人. 1841年11月22日, 他在波士顿共济会圣殿的听众, 拥挤不堪,可能还以为会听到“雄辩老人”对奴隶制的另一次攻击,但他们还是吃了一惊. Adams launched into a vigorous defense of the conduct of the British government in their relations with China, 否认非法鸦片贸易是战争的起因. He argued that the Chinese government recognized “no such Law [of Nations]” and that its “hereditary, patriarchal despotism” had brought the conflict upon itself by demanding the “Ko-tow”—the complete submission of the representatives of “barbarian” nations to Chinese supremacy—making normal diplomatic relations impossible.

在他的日记中记录了11月22日的事件, John Quincy Adams expressed his relief that his lecture “was heard without manifestation of disapprobation,” even though it ran “directly contrary to the strong current of popular opinion in this Country and will be handled without mercy by political antagonists.——约翰·G. 帕尔弗雷是《og体育官网》的编辑 北美评论他最初建议约翰·昆西·亚当斯为《og体育官网》写一篇文章 审查 中国和英国之间的冲突, 但 he clearly was taken aback when Adams for战争ded to him the manuscript of his argument that Britain had a “righteous cause.“帕尔弗里, who questioned whether the “unsocial and selfish” policies of the Chinese government justified British military action, 支支吾吾, 他知道亚当斯即将返回华盛顿.

约翰·昆西·亚当斯的地址从未出现在 北美评论, 但 it was published in part, without his permission, in the 4 December 1841 issue of the 四开的概念乔治·罗伯茨(George Roberts)的波士顿文学报纸. 即使是演讲的节选也占了整整三页 概念, 以亚当斯所说的“监控课”作为总结, 写在一束磷光上——准备 战争 以及保存 和平.”

马萨诸塞州历史学会的中国贸易资料

Soon after the acquisition of important manuscript collections previously held by the Museum of the American China Trade in Milton, 麻萨诸塞州, 凯瑟琳·H. Griffin compiled an overview of the 麻萨诸塞州 Historical Society’s related holdings, “Manuscripts on the American China Trade at the 麻萨诸塞州 Historical Society,” 《og体育平台》, v. 100(波士顿，1988)，128-139.

Current information about the Historical Society’s China Trade holdings can be located by searching 收集指南 (manuscript and photograph collection descriptions and inventories) and the Historical Society’s online catalog, 阿比盖尔的“中国贸易”一词.”