History Of The World In 6 Glasses Summary

In Standage’s A History of the World in 6 Glasses, tea, discussed in chapters 9 and 10, had the biggest impact on the evolution of world history by being involved in significant economic changes and historical events. Tea was a major part of economic changes occurring at the time. During the 18th century, as the Industrial Revolution came around, the way goods were made changed. Machines and laborers specializing in a single stage of the manufacturing process replaced skilled human workers who could make the goods by hand. During long, tiring shifts, the new laborers often drunk tea in order to stay vigilant and focused when operating fast-moving machines. Tea’s natural antibacterial properties also played a role in the Industrial Revolution

One of these was the American Revolution. In order to put a tax on tea and undermine smugglers of this good, the British government put forth the Tea Act of 1773. The Boston Tea Party, in which colonists dumped numerous chests of tea from commercial ships into the ocean, resulted. Britain’s attempt to re-enforce their authority over the American colonists failed; instead, they lost the colonies as a result of the revolution. This independence of America, in which the conflict over tea helped to cause, would later substantially impact the world, as America becomes a major superpower itself. The Opium War of 1939-42 was another significant historical event greatly impacted by tea. As Chinese demand for European goods declined, Britain began using opium, a drug whose addiction had become a problem and whose use had become outlawed in China, instead. The Chinese government’s attempt to stop the illicit trade resulted in the Opium War of 1939-42. By using the superior European weapons, Britain utterly defeated the Chinese, disproving the myth of Chinese invincibility. Overall, the Opium War and wars induced by the European victory caused China, once-mighty civilization, to fall apart by legalizing opium trade, allowing Britain to take over Chinese customs service, and undermining Chinese craftsmen through imported European goods. This ruin of China was a major consequence of the Opium War, a major event in history that was helped along by the drink loved by the British,