ABSTRACT
On June 22, 1840, before the advance part of the British force reached China, Sir Gordon Bremer published a notice of the blockade of the port of Canton. The conquerors set fire to the Chinese camp in the morning, consuming all the houses used as arsenals, with arms and ammunition of every kind. The Chinese near Ningpo and Chinhai had so much confidence in the English, and were so greatly profited by their presence, that no disturbances took place. The citizens of Amoy, Ningpo, and Shanghai hailed the cessation of the war and the opening of their ports to foreign trade; but not so at Canton. The citizens of Canton maintained their hereditary ill-will toward foreigners, and proceeded to lengths that the local government became powerless to carry the stipulation of the British treaty into effect. Trade was carried on notwithstanding the blockade, by sending tea and goods through Macao; and many ships loaded for England and the United States.
