Copyright © 2012 by Eric Jay Dolin
All rights reserved
FIRST PUBLISHED AS A NORTON PAPERBACK 2013
For information about permission to reproduce
selections from this book, write to Permissions,
Liveright Publishing Corporation,
a division of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.,
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases,
please contact W. W. Norton Special Sales
at specialsales@wwnorton.com or 800-233-4830
Book design by Barbara M. Bachman
Production manager: Anna Oler
Maps by David Cain
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Dolin, Eric Jay.
When America first met China : an exotic history of tea, drugs,
and money in the Age of Sail / Eric Jay Dolin. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-87140-433-6 (hardcover)
1. United States—Commerce—China—History—18th century.
2. United States—Commerce—China—History—19th century.
3. China—Commerce—United States—History—18th century.
4. China—Commerce—United States—History—19th century.
I. Title.
HF3128.D65 2012
382.0973051—dc23
2012016598
ISBN 978-0-871-40689-7 (pbk.)
eISBN: 978-0-871-40348-3
Liveright Publishing Corporation
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110
W. W. Norton & Company Ltd.
Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT
* They were called pieces of eight because each was equal to eight reales; the real, or “royal,” being a smaller-denomination Spanish coin.
* Bellona is the Roman goddess of war.
* Generating interest in British products was only one of the mission’s goals. Others included establishing a British diplomatic presence in Peking, and opening more Chinese ports to British merchants.
* There are no truly “accurate” numbers for the amount of opium imported into China, especially during the early years of the China trade. The same goes for the price per chest of opium. This is in part because the trade was, after all, a smuggling trade, which worked against responsible bookkeeping and in favor of secrecy. Also, the numbers are often drawn from different sources that used varied methods of collecting data.
* A “Bowditch” is shorthand for The New American Practical Navigator, by Nathaniel Bowditch of Salem, Massachusetts. First published in 1802, it revolutionized seafaring by setting forth accurate nautical and navigational information by which mariners could safely travel the world’s oceans. Bowditch’s Navigator has been updated over the years, and more than a million copies have been sold. It is now published by the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and is still widely used by mariners today.
* She was using the word in the sense of “creatures” rather than making a comment about their attitude toward women.
* To keep the ice from melting too much, it was covered in sawdust.