The Treaty of Nanking was a peace treaty signed on August 29, 1842 between the British Empire and the Qing Dynasty that marked the end of the First Opium War.
After the defeat of China in the war, the representatives of the British Empire and the China of Qing negotiated the terms of the treaty aboard the British warship HMS Cornwallis, in waters of Nanking. On August 29, 1842, the British representative Sir Henry Pottinger and the representatives of Qing, Qiying, Ilibu and Niujian, signed the treaty which consisted of thirteen articles that were ratified by both Queen Victoria and Emperor Daoguang ten months later.
A common explanation is that the Civil War was fought over the moral issue of slavery. In fact, it was the economics of slavery and political control of that system that was central to the conflict.
