Because Britain wanted to expand its manufactured goods market. In the eighteenth century, Britain traded English wool and Indian cotton for Chinese tea and textiles; however, when the Chinese demand weakened, Britain demanded other means of attracting trade with China. Britain realized it could make up the trade deficit with China by selling Indian opium into the Chinese market, making opium the most profitable and popular crop in world markets.
Solomon Northup was an outsider. He had grown up as a "free" black man. He had never experienced anything like that. He was accustomed to an entirely different existence.
They were going to do this through the construction of a
canal. This was a joint effort by
government and businessmen and this was to be called the Erie Canal. This enabled merchants and traders to
transport their goods by water which was faster and facilitated trade.
