The Killing Age

The Killing Age

Map 17.1. Asia in the age of empire

East and Northern Africa was also succumb to Western imperialism in the nineteenth century. This map helps us understand this process, including the role of chartered companies.

back to images & maps The Qing and Russian empires were the nineteenth century’s largest land-based empires, followed by the United States. This map depicts the extent of the Qing Empire at its greatest extent, and some of the cataclysms that unfolded on its eastern flank in the nineteenth century as Western imperialism insinuated itself […]

Ch17.1. Canton, China

Canton, in China, became the most important gateway in the so-called opening of China to the West. Through Canton flowed massive amounts of tea, opium and other commodities, including weapons.

back to images & maps Ch17.1. Canton, China Canton, China, ca. 1760, British Library. By the middle of the eighteenth century, Canton (Guangzhou) had become the most important port connecting China and the West. Large quantities of goods moved in and out of the city: Chinese tea, silk, porcelain, American silver, and increasingly large amounts […]