Commodore J. Armstrong – The Commander of the East India Squadron in Chinese Waters on the Eve and During the Second "Opium" War (1856–1860)

Abstract

The article examines the activities of the American East India Squadron led by its commander Commodore J. Armstrong in China on the eve and during the Second Opium War (1856–1860). The activities of the commander of the East India Squadron and the U.S. diplomatic representative in the Qing Empire J.E. Ward on the implementation of the new challenges of U.S. Chinese policy set by Washington in the first half of the 1950s of the XIX century are analyzed in the article. Demonstration and use of force ("gunboat policy") were used by U.S. representatives in China, both the Department of State and the Naval Ministry, to intimidate the Qing authorities, to tear Taiwan away from China.