Where trade goes, conflict follows! While Britain and the East India Company focus on the opium trade with China, Americans of the first half of the 19th century try to break into the Chinese market with...well...opium, but also with ginseng, sandalwood, furs, and even sea cucumbers. After the British crush the Chinese in the First Opium War, few Americans (other than John Quincy Adams) approve of British aggression. But the war’s results open up China to the West like never before, and Americans respond by increasing trade, and by sending Christian missionaries to China to spread the Gospel. (Listen until the end for a behind-the-scenes segment.)

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