GAJS.COM Web Catalogue John Quincy Adams 1822

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
AND THE CHINESE OPIUM TRADE

ADAMS, JOHN QUINCY (1767-1848). Sixth President of the United States. Manuscript Letter Signed, “John Quincy Adams.” One page, octavo. One page, quarto. “Department of State, Washington,” May 1, 1822. Traces of mounting on verso, else very fine condition. To “Benjamin C. Wilcocks, Esq., Consul of the United States, Canton.” Headed “Duplicate.” Adams writes:

“Sir, Mr. Philip Ammidon, who was the Supercargo of the ship President Adams, belonging to Citizens of the United States, which is stated to have been wrecked about ten years ago upon a small Island, called Fumo Chow under the jurisdiction of the Vice Roy of Canton, and to have been then robbed of much money and property by Chinese subjects, goes to Canton for the purpose of seeking the indemnity to which the owners of this vessel and property think themselves entitled; and he carries with him a letter from the President of the United States to the Emperor, and one from this Department to the Vice Roy of Canton, soliciting, in behalf of the claimants, the measure of justice to which, as citizens of a friendly state, they are entitled from the subjects of the Celestial Empire. I accordingly recommend Mr. Philip Ammidon to such good offices as are proper and it may be in your power to render him, in the execution of his Commission, and am with much respect, Sir, your obedient servant, John Quincy Adams.”

In the decade following the War of 1812, the American opium trade, although less than a quarter of the size of Britain’s, was a source of great profit for businessmen willing to take great risks, both fiscal and physical. As early as 1804, Philadelphia merchants based out of Canton, China were trading heavily in the very profitable narcotic. Among the first figures of any consequence in the trade were two brothers, James and Benjamin C. Wilcocks. Benjamin Wilcocks, U.S. Counsul at Canton beginning in 1812, carried out his duties as consul religiously, successfully keeping his superiors in the American government unaware of his drug trafficking. Yet, under this upstanding exterior, Wilcocks profited greatly from the trade of Indian opium in China during the war. After the war between the U.S. and Great Britain ended, Wilcocks opened maritime trade routes once again, using the privileges of his governmental position to keep suspicious Chinese magistrates off his ships and away from his cargo (Morse, Chronicles of the East India Company, III).

While the Wilcocks brothers controlled a large segment of the profitable American opium trade in China, there were countless other merchants involved as well. Among these men was Philip Ammidon, who began speculating in the drug in the days before the war just like the Wilcocks family. In the coming years, Ammidon would reap rewards far greater than the losses he suffered with the sinking of his opium laden ship the President Adams in 1812, (“American Merchants and the China Opium Trade, 1800-1804,” The Business History Review, Winter, 1968). In 1824, he would leave his position at Brown & Ives, a major Providence trading firm also invested in the trade, to found Russell & company with Samuel Russell; within three years, the two would control the majority of the booming Indian opium market. An intriguing document that brings together two of the most powerful American merchants involved in highly profitable Chinese opium trade.


JOHN QUINCY ADAMS AND THE CHINESE OPIUM TRADE ADAMS, JOHN QUINCY (1767-1848). Sixth President of the United States. Manuscript Letter Signed, “John Quincy Adams.” One page, octavo. One page, quarto. “Department of State, Washington,” May 1, 1822. Traces of mounting on verso, else very fine condition. To “Benjamin C. Wilcocks, Esq., Consul of the United States, Canton.” Headed “Duplicate.” Adams writes: “Sir, Mr. Philip Ammidon, who was the Supercargo of the ship President Adams, belonging to Citizens of the United States, which is stated to have been wrecked about ten years ago upon a small Island, called Fumo Chow under the jurisdiction of the Vice Roy of Canton, and to have been then robbed of much money and property by Chinese subjects, goes to Canton for the purpose of seeking the indemnity to which the owners of this vessel and property think themselves entitled; and he carries with him a letter from the President of the United States to the Emperor, and one from this Department to the Vice Roy of Canton, soliciting, in behalf of the claimants, the measure of justice to which, as citizens of a friendly state, they are entitled from the subjects of the Celestial Empire. I accordingly recommend Mr. Philip Ammidon to such good offices as are proper and it may be in your power to render him, in the execution of his Commission, and am with much respect, Sir, your obedient servant, John Quincy Adams.” In the decade following the War of 1812, the American opium trade, although less than a quarter of the size of Britain’s, was a source of great profit for businessmen willing to take great risks, both fiscal and physical. As early as 1804, Philadelphia merchants based out of Canton, China were trading heavily in the very profitable narcotic. Among the first figures of any consequence in the trade were two brothers, James and Benjamin C. Wilcocks. Benjamin Wilcocks, U.S. Counsul at Canton beginning in 1812, carried out his duties as consul religiously, successfully keeping his superiors in the American government unaware of his drug trafficking. Yet, under this upstanding exterior, Wilcocks profited greatly from the trade of Indian opium in China during the war. After the war between the U.S. and Great Britain ended, Wilcocks opened maritime trade routes once again, using the privileges of his governmental position to keep suspicious Chinese magistrates off his ships and away from his cargo (Morse, Chronicles of the East India Company, III). While the Wilcocks brothers controlled a large segment of the profitable American opium trade in China, there were countless other merchants involved as well. Among these men was Philip Ammidon, who began speculating in the drug in the days before the war just like the Wilcocks family. In the coming years, Ammidon would reap rewards far greater than the losses he suffered with the sinking of his opium laden ship the President Adams in 1812, (“American Merchants and the China Opium Trade, 1800-1804,” The Business History Review, Winter, 1968). In 1824, he would leave his position at Brown & Ives, a major Providence trading firm also invested in the trade, to found Russell & company with Samuel Russell; within three years, the two would control the majority of the booming Indian opium market. An intriguing document that brings together two of the most powerful American merchants involved in highly profitable Chinese opium trade. For more details or to buy this item, please contact us. SOLD... Please contact us for items similar in quality and content.
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