76 Kenneth S. Latourette, 



cited as a reason for ending the monopoly. The result was the 

 defeat of the company.^^^ Contrary to English expectations, 

 however, this shipment in American vessels did not cease with 

 the end of the monopoly, but continued to 1837 at least^^^ and 

 possibly longer. 



From a consideration of the imports to China in American 

 ships we naturally turn to the exports. Of these tea was pre- 

 eminent. Choosing representative years, in 1822, 6,639,434 lbs. 

 were imported into the United States, in 1828, 7,707,427 

 Ibs./-*^' ^^^ in 1832, 9,906,606 lbs., in 1837, 16,581,467 lbs., in 

 1840, 19,333,597 Ibs.^-' In value the proportion of tea to the 

 total American imports from China during these years was for 

 1822, 36%, for 1828, 45%, for 1832, 52%, for 1837, 65%, for 

 1840, 81%.^-^ It can readily be seen from these figures that in 

 the years following 1814 the relative proportion of teas to other 

 Chinese imports constantly increased.^-* During these later 

 years, in fact, our Canton commerce was mostly for the purpose 

 of obtaining them. The teas thus imported came from nearly 

 all of the southeastern provinces and from some of the central 

 provinces of China. ^'^ The many bewildering grades known to 

 trade were all subdivisions of the two main kinds, black and 

 green, grown on different varieties of the same species of shrub. ^-® 

 Black teas, the cheapest, included such grades as Souchong, 



"' Hugh Murray, et alii, An Historical and Descriptive Account of 

 China. 3 v., Edinburgh, 1836. 3 : 50. 



""Peter N. Snow, American Consul at Canton, wrote Feb. 15, 1836, 

 that it still continued. Consular Letters, Canton, H. The statistics for 

 1836-7 in the Chinese Repository, 6 : 284-6, also show it to have been still 

 in progress. 



^"" The figures before 1816 were, for 1790, 3,047,252 lbs., for 1794, 

 2,460,914 lbs., for 1800, 3,797,634 lbs., for 1805, 5,119,441 lbs., for 1810, 

 7.839,457 lbs. Pitkin, Stat. View, ed. 1835, pp. 246, 247. 



'"'Pitkin, Stat. View of U. S., ed. 1835, pp. 246, 247, 301. 



'"^Chinese Repos., 9:191. 



"' Ex. Doc. 35, 27 Cong., 3 Sess., p. 10. 



'^^ This proportional increase was largely due to the decline in the 

 importation of silks and cottons. Commerce of the U. S. with China, 

 Hunt's Merc. Mag., 11:55. 



^"^ These were Fuhkien, Nganhui, Kiangsu, Kwantung, Hunan, Hupeh, 

 Honan, and Szechuen. Ch. Rep., 8: 135-148. 



'-' Ibid. 



