Panels
Here is an outline of my panels:
Panel 1: Canton System
The Qing Dynasty strictly confined and regulated foreign trade to a specific pocket of Guangzhou.
Panel 2: Diplomacy
This panel explores the diplomatic mission that demonstrated failed expectations and deep cultural misunderstandings between the British Crown and the Qing Court.
Panel 3: Opium War
Qing Dynasty’s economic imbalance, silver inflation, and Lin Zexu’s move to eradicate the illegal drug trade.
Panel 4: Treaty of Nanjing & Treaty of Wangxia
19th-century forced legal pacts dismantled Chinese autonomy.
Panel 5: Second Opium War & Treaty of Tianjin
This panel flags the entry of new Western powers and further erosion of Chinese sovereignty.
Panel 6: Push Factors
The connection between the Great Divergence, Qing Dynasty’s internal conflicts, poverty, and natural disasters resulting in outward migration.
Panel 7: Pull Factors
This panel captures the economic hope and the literal geographic draws—the California Gold Rush and Transcontinental Railroad labor.
Panel 8: Immigration Experience
Heavy gender imbalance caused by the multiple exclusion acts, alongside the strategic labor resistance of Chinese workers.