Theme 1, EQ 2: Ports, entrepots and trade routes. Suez Canal Shares Purchase, Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong

Question 1

Purchase of the Suez Canal Shares:

How much did the shares increase?

Answer 1

From 4.7% in the first 5 years to 33% in 1911 when tonnage passed 18,340,000 tons

Question 2

Purchase of the Suez Canal Shares:

What was the world tonnage?

Answer 2

1870s - past 3 million mark which was double 1860s

Question 3

Purchase of the Suez Canal Shares:

In 1874, how much was of the tonnage in canal was British?

Answer 3

3/4

Question 4

Purchase of the Suez Canal Shares:

What was the advantages of the acquisition of the Suez Canal for British trade?

Answer 4

1. Britain secured their use
2. French could not cut off their use
3. Indian trade flourished as Britain had access to a shorter route to Asia

Question 5

Shanghai, 1842:

What was the status of Shanghai?

Answer 5

Not owned by British and not an entrepot, it was a treaty port with no free trade

Question 6

Shanghai, 1842:

What did the Treaty of Nanking include?

Answer 6

1. Pay 6 million silver dollars for opium destroyed
2. Pay 12 million in reparations
3. Pay 3 million in debt to British merchants in Canton
4. Cede the island of Hong Kong in perpetuity
5. Open ports to foreign traders (Ningpo, Shanghai)
6. Lift restrictions at Canton to only 5%
7. Grant British citizens legal protections in China

Question 7

Shanghai, 1842:

Why was Shanghai situated in a good place?

Answer 7

It was at the mouth of the largest river in China, the Yangtze.
This opened up the interior of China.
It had a 1000 mile navigable waterway for ocean-going ships alone.

Question 8

Shanghai, 1842:

How was this acquisition self-governing?

Answer 8

1. Britain had established a good settlement that meant it was essentially self-governing.
2. American, 1848, and French, 1849, settlements formed municipal council to coordinate services like road maintenance and waste disposal
3. Was a colonial city that was neither answerable to China nor to imperial powers.

Question 9

Shanghai, 1842:

What was the status of Shanghai when the British settled on it?

Answer 9

1. Already a principal trading port for China

Question 10

Shanghai, 1842:

Who had deemed it as a ‘promising trade centre’ in 1832?

Answer 10

East India Company

Question 11

Shanghai, 1842:

How many tonnes of opium was trade and when?

Answer 11

6500 tonnes in 1880

Question 12

Singapore, 1819:

What was the status of Singapore?

Answer 12

Inhabited by Britain but had to pay a lease

Entrepot

Question 13

Singapore, 1819:
How much was the trade worth that passed through in 1819?
And how much did this increase in 1824, after the Anglo-Dutch treaty was finalised?

Answer 13

400,000 Spanish dollars

2700% to 11 million Spanish dollars

Question 14

Singapore, 1819:

What was the advantage for British Trade?

Answer 14

Ships no longer had to complete the journey to export and import goods.
Chinese good brough to Singapore to be dropped off to be sent to China or collected from China.

Question 15

Singapore, 1819:

How many British merchant houses were there?

Answer 15

20

Question 16

Singapore, 1819:

What were some of the issues with British Trade in Singapore?

Answer 16

Legal grounds of acquisition were shaky

Was also not so transformational as was not first entrepot (Antwerp, Amsterdam)

Question 17

Hong Kong, 1824:

Why was the situation ideal?

Answer 17

Secure and deep enough for large ocean-going vessels to offload without paying import tariffs

Goods could be transferred to coast and river waders for larger distribution

Question 18

Hong Kong, 1824:

What was the population growth that hints at the growth of trade?

Answer 18

1841: 15,000
1900: 300,000

Question 19

Hong Kong, 1824:

How did the British gov take advantage of Hong Kong and expand British Trade?

Answer 19

British gov pressured China to allow expansion of settlement into Kowloon and the New Territories through successive treaties.