Sign in with Facebook
Daniel R. Headrick’s Followers (14)
Daniel R. Headrick
Born
Bay Shore, New York, The United States
Genre
More books by Daniel R. Headrick…
“The Chinese fleet was equally vulnerable. The war junks were half the size of the Nemesis, or one tenth that of a first rate British battleship. They were armed with small cannons that were hard to aim, and with boarding nets, pots of burning pitch, and handguns. Without much difficulty the Nemesis sank or captured several junks; the rest were frightened off with Congreve rockets. The Chinese also relied on fire-rafts filled with gunpowder and oil-soaked cotton that were set ablaze and pushed toward enemy ships. The steamers, however, quickly grappled them and towed them out of reach. The previous year Commissioner Lin Tse-Hsu had purchased the 1080-ton American merchantman Cambridge but for lack' of sailors who knew how to handle the ship, she was kept idle behind a barrier of rafts. She was soon lost to the Nemesis.”
― The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century
― The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century
“In June 1842 the British fleet entered the Yangtze. The Chinese were ready to receive their enemy, having assembled a considerable fleet of sixteen war junks and seventy merchant men and fishing vessels requisitioned for naval duty. In the forts of Woosung, near the mouth of the river, they had placed 253 heavy artillery pieces.
The Chinese also unveiled a secret weapon: paddle-wheelers armed with brass guns, gingals, and matchlocks, and propelled by men inside the hull operating treadles. Nin Chien, governor-general of Nanking, wrote of them:
`Skilled artisans have also constructed four water-wheel boats, on which we have mounted guns. They are fast and we have specially assigned Major Liu Ch'ang to command them. If the barbarians should sail into the inland waterways, these vessels can resist them. There is not the slightest worry.`23
The battle of Woosung was swift. The British ships of the line soon silenced the guns of the forts. The Nemesis, towing the eighteen-gun Modeste, led the fleet into the river, firing grape and canister at the Chinese crafts, which fled. The Nemesis and the Phlegethon thereupon chased the fleeing boats, captured one junk and three paddle-wheelers, and set the rest on fire.”
― The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century
The Chinese also unveiled a secret weapon: paddle-wheelers armed with brass guns, gingals, and matchlocks, and propelled by men inside the hull operating treadles. Nin Chien, governor-general of Nanking, wrote of them:
`Skilled artisans have also constructed four water-wheel boats, on which we have mounted guns. They are fast and we have specially assigned Major Liu Ch'ang to command them. If the barbarians should sail into the inland waterways, these vessels can resist them. There is not the slightest worry.`23
The battle of Woosung was swift. The British ships of the line soon silenced the guns of the forts. The Nemesis, towing the eighteen-gun Modeste, led the fleet into the river, firing grape and canister at the Chinese crafts, which fled. The Nemesis and the Phlegethon thereupon chased the fleeing boats, captured one junk and three paddle-wheelers, and set the rest on fire.”
― The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century
“European empires of the nineteenth century were economy empires, cheaply obtained by taking advantage of new technologies, and, when the cost of keeping thein rose a century later, quickly discarded. In the process, they unbalanced world relations, overturned ancient ways of life, and opened the way for a new global civilization…
The technological means the imperialists used to create their empires, however, have left a far deeper imprint than the ideas that motivated them. In their brief domination, the Europeans passed on to the peoples of Asia and Africa their own fascination with machinery and innovation. This has been the true legacy of imperialism.”
― The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century
The technological means the imperialists used to create their empires, however, have left a far deeper imprint than the ideas that motivated them. In their brief domination, the Europeans passed on to the peoples of Asia and Africa their own fascination with machinery and innovation. This has been the true legacy of imperialism.”
― The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century
Is this you? Let us know. If not, help out and invite Daniel to Goodreads.
