Page 172 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

158.

them toward a conciliatory attitude toward the Chinese. Be­

fore the trial the American merchants at Canton had emphasized

to Capt. Cowpland and the other masters the advisability and

necessity of pursuing actions least objectionable to the
15
Chinese (yet honorable for themselves) . Furthermore, Ameri­

can merchants, unlike other foreign merchants abroad, tradi­

tionally followed a policy of obeying the laws of the country

in which they traded and resided. Such a policy was actually

a corollary to the importance American merchants put on their
trade. It also reflected a practical acknowledgment of the

lack of a strong navy to support them. Although protecting

Terranovia satisfied their sense of honor, such a stand hardly

promoted American relations with the Chinese. The embargo on

their trade reminded the American merchants once again of the

necessity to abide by the principle of non-resistance. Ameri­

can adherence to this principle was a practical assessment

of the reality of the Americans' situation in China.

Although one historian had argued that he "regretted .

. that the inevitable issue between the Middle Kingdom and

the Occident, free intercourse between·the two on a basis of

mutual e�uality could not have been forced by the United States

at this time. . , 11 16 this was not possible. Considering the

15
Letter., Committee to Capt. W.S. Cowpland, Oct. 5, 1821,
in Consular Despatches: Canton, B.C. Wilcocks, Nov. 1, 182 1 .
16
Kenneth S. Latourette, "The Story of the Early Relations
between the United States and China, 1784-1844," Transactions of
the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. XXII, (New
Haven, 1917, pp. 6 2-6 3.