A History of the World in Six Glasses: Chapter 10 Summary & Analysis

One of the most important technological breakthroughs of the 18th century occurred in 1771 when the British inventor Richard Arkwright developed a “spinning frame” that could weave textiles. This breakthrough was one of the earliest milestones in the Industrial Revolution, the period during which machines performed an increasingly large portion of labor—manufacturing, delivery, etc. Arkwright became so successful that he was able to open a series of mills where workers controlled spinning frames as they produced clothing. Arkwright gave his workers regular tea breaks. Tea, he found, was a sensible drink, because it was sterile (water had to be boiled) and easy to prepare. Because tea became popular in mills, cases of dysentery and other water-spread diseases went down dramatically in the 18th century.

The popularity of tea encouraged the Industrial Revolution in many ways. Not only were workers given tea at factories and mills, but the demand for tea itself helped to foster a huge industry of ceramics. Potters like Josiah Wedgwood produced fine porcelain using new industrial techniques. Soon, British porcelain became renowned throughout Europe, eclipsing even the porcelain of China.

In general, the Industrial Revolution took place in Britain for many reasons: a proud scientific tradition, a strong work ethic, large supplies of coal, etc. But the demand for tea also played a small but important role in the era: tea was a sterile, healthy drink that ensured a steady supply of strong, capable workers.

For more than two centuries, the British East India Company was one of the most powerful organizations in the world. This company was responsible for obtaining tea supplies from around the world, colonizing entire countries to do so. The company’s influence was so great that it could often influence Britain’s foreign policy. One famous example of this occurred in the 1770s. The British East India Company feared that smuggled tea would become so popular in the American colonies that smugglers would put the company out of business. As a result, the company convinced the British crown to tax tea heavily. The long-term goal was to lower the price of tea transportation, thereby making tea smuggling impractical. But this turned out to be a huge mistake, since in the short-term tea prices went up enormously. Colonists were so furious with the new taxes that they organized the famous Boston Tea Party of 1773, during which three full shiploads of tea were dumped into Boston Harbor. The controversy over tea prices, instigated by the British East India Company’s control over the British crown, played a decisive role in bringing about the American Revolution.

By the 1780s, the British East India Company was in good shape, largely because new sources of tea resulted in lower tea prices throughout the British Empire. These low prices made tea smuggling obsolete, and greatly increased company profits. As the company grew in size, it began to focus more on land control. In India, the company seized huge land territories and set up administrative governments in the name of the British Empire. One side effect of these changes was that the British East India Company became less invested in trade—as a result, other mercantile companies became more powerful. Nevertheless, the company continued to wield great power throughout the empire.

In the early 19th century, the British East India Company faced a new challenge. The company became heavily involved in the illicit trading of opium in China. Although opium was a powerful and dangerous narcotic that had been banned in China, the company traded many tons of opium with Chinese citizens under the table, and opium became an important part of the company’s affairs. It was believed that Britain should have a balance of trade with China because it purchased so much tea from China. As a result, opium quickly became the commodity that Britain exchanged with China in return for tea. Because opium trading was officially illegal in China, the British East India Company hid its tracks by bribing officials and laundering money through Indian companies.

By the 1830s, the British East India Company traded huge volumes of opium every year—its financial standing depended on the trade, in fact. In 1838, the emperor of China sent Commissioner Tze-su to crack down on opium trading in the country. Tze-su, recognizing that British businessmen were entirely responsible for the opium trade, decided to shut down China to all British businessmen. This launched the Opium War of 1839-42, during which the British Empire fought with China for the right to trade freely in China. Britain defeated China so resoundingly that it was able to establish no less than five ports in China, claim Hong Kong as its own territory, and demand a huge reparation payment in the form of silver. All of this was humiliating for China, which as late as the 1700s was the wealthiest and most sophisticated country on the planet. The demand for tea had thus changed British foreign policy—and world history.

Although Britain had fought an entire war to ensure its ability to trade opium—and thus consume tea from China—it also pursued ways of growing its own tea. In the early 1800s, it was suggested that tea could be cheaply shipped and grown in Java or India, a major British colony. British officials particularly liked the notion of growing tea in India because it meant the creation of new jobs for Indians, and new sources of wealth for British businessmen. The irony of these calculations was that there already was tea in India, in the region of Assam. Tea bushes had grown in Assam for hundreds of years. When this was discovered in the late 1820s, it was hailed as the most important agricultural breakthrough in British history.

Although the British Empire knew that it could grow tea in Assam, it wasn’t clear how tea bushes should be cultivated to ensure maximum production. Charles Bruce, a talented explorer and adventurer, spent more than twenty years learning the best ways to grow tea by interviewing local farmers. Armed with Bruce’s research, the British Empire raised large sums of money from investors with the goal of establishing a thriving tea industry in India. This new Assam Company, a major international company by the 1850s, employed Chinese tea experts in order to ensure success in Assam. Throughout the 1850s, the company’s profits were low, but by the 1860s it had become highly successful, making clever use of industrial innovations like the steam engine and the assembly line. By the 1880s, Britain derived most of its tea from India, not China.

At present, India is still the world’s biggest producer of tea, thanks in no small part to the work of Charles Bruce. India is also the world’s leading consumer of tea (23 percent), followed by China. While Britain itself consumes only 6 percent of the world’s tea, it’s no coincidence that many of the world’s largest consumers of the drink—India, New Zealand, and Australia—are former British colonies. By contrast, the U.S. drinks relatively little tea. While tea was fairly popular in the 19th century, coffee has been far more popular ever since lowered tariffs in the 1830s made it cheaper to buy. In conclusion, Britain’s love affair with tea can be seen all over the world in its colonies—in a way, the popularity of tea around the world is one of the last signs of the huge political and military power the British Empire once held.