| Response sheet 18, for class, Thursday | |
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Former U.S. President, and current U.S. Member of Congress, John Quincy Adams shocked his audience in delivering this address in Boston in December 1841. Given their own history, kept fresh in popular minds through persistent commemoration, many Americans expected Adams to choose the side of China as the victim of British imperialism. But Adams did not. Instead, he articulated arguments in favor of the British. Adams did not defend the opium trade, or smuggling, or corruption, or bombardment. Ignoring the many human dimensions of the situation on the ground, Adams recast the dispute onto more philosophical terrain: international law and international trade. [An excerpt from the address is in the China folder under Files in Canvas.] 1. According to Adams, what cultural standards are universal and apply everywhere in the world? 2. According to Adams, what is a given country’s obligations to other countries in the world? 3. According to Adams, what makes a reason justifiable to one’s own country? To other countries? |