Summary:
Empires of Tea:
Not to long after the development of coffee, tea appeared and played quite a large part to the imperial and industrial expansions in Europe. Tea was actually the foundation of the European trade with the East. Since it was becoming quite popular due to how much profit people are making, tea became the beverage of the working man, especially those who works in factories because tea was considered their fuel to keep them working. The spread of tea was tremendous! It spread throughout the world and was the most consumed beverages after water, of course. According to Chinese traditions, tea was an important factor in their history and lives. Tea was actually used as medicine and food way before it was turned into a beverage. The expansion of tea and how tea became the national beverage of China during 618-907 CE was huge! Depending of how you prefer to look at it, it made China the largest, wealthiest, and more known empire in the world. It also increased their population by a triple amount from what they had before! A few reasons why tea was so popular and well-loved was because it was quick and easy to make, it didn't spoiled like beer, and it's good for our health due to the natural ingredients. Tea was a great impact in China, especially economically because at some point tea was considered a currency as well. Since tea made China seemed very superior and "top-knotch", other countries wanted tea as well. So China started importing tea to all over the world which allowed different people from different countries to try out tea.
Tea Power:
During the Industrial Revolution, the workers in factories loved drinking tea to keep them energized for work rather than coffee. Drinking tea was quite an advantage for the workers because due to their occupations, they don't have much break time so they all have to be healthy and ready to work. Not only does tea helps you feel more calm and energized, it also help prevents diseases. But soon the policies from tea impacted the establishment of American independence. In order to get cheaper tea, tea had to be smuggled into Britain illegally. Because of smuggled tea, it decrease sales of legalized tea which then led to debts and that soon resulted in the Tea Act of 1773. But alas, American colonists refused to pay taxes so they began to boycott against British goods. Not too long after their boycotts, the Boston Tea Party happened. The British Parliament then declared a series of acts or the Coercive Act to show that they have more power than the colonists. Colonists was outraged and had rancor against the British, which eventually started the Revolutionary War in 1775. Tea also made an impact on the Opium War of 1839-42. Because the Chinese wanted to isolate themselves from other places, they had to pay for tea, mainly with silver. That was when the creation and importation of opium began. China then produced as much opium as they could to exchange for silver, so that it would pay for their tea supplies. Eventually emperor Lin Tze-su wanted to stop opium trading but they didn't followed his command so he started arresting those who were caught trading opium. At last, the emperor expelled the British from Canto (where the opium trading was located) and that really angered the British thus a war was declared between Britain and China. China lost because their weapons were no match for the Britain's. So the downfall of China and also the independence of America all began with tea!
Quote:
"In prehistoric times, people noticed the invigorating effect of chewing its leaves, and the healing effect of rubbing them on wounds, practices that survived for thousands of years." (Standage 178).
Reaction:
I really liked this quote because it made me stop reading and relate to my life. I've seen my family offer natural leaves that's supposed to make you feel more energized and sometimes leaves were used to prevent people from sickness. I had my own personal experience with having a leave rubbed onto a cut. I can recall it as if it was yesterday because it was just different to what I'm used to. I was running around with my cousins then I tripped and I got a cut on my knee. It didn't bled much but there was definitely some pain feeling. My cousin then ran to a tree, ripped off a leaf, and wrapped it around my cut. I don't know how but the pain gradually decreased. I was literally stunned because in America, whenever I get a cut, I always use a band-aid to cover my wounds. The whole leaf concept was totally new to me :P As the quote stated, people have used leaves for these main reasons during the prehistoric times, and I'd like to say that there are people who still uses leaves for medical reasons, including my family and myself.
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