著者

丹羽 絹子

出版者

政治経済学・経済史学会

雑誌

歴史と経済 (ISSN:13479660)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.61, no.4, pp.34-51, 2019-07-30 (Released:2021-07-30)

参考文献数

41

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This paper explores how tea became Britain’s national drink beginning in the mid‒nineteenth century, with a focus on the tea‒tax reduction of 1853. Tea had been spreading in Britain since early in the eighteenth century, but there was a critical turning point in tea consumption around the mid‒nineteenth century as seen in changes in historical per capita consumption. Many reasons are apparent for the increase in tea consumption in the latter half of the nineteenth century, including tax reform, expansion of colonial plantations and developments in advertising and sales methods. Among these, the tax reform of 1853 was the driving force in affecting the timing of the change in consumption patterns. Previous studies have not elaborated on this subject, but the background of the tax reform and its relation to tea consumption merit detailed explanation.By examining the report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons in 1847 concerning the tea‒tax reduction and parliamentary debates, this paper reveals three factors affecting the changes in consumption pattern : economic interests in the China market, ideological developments regarding working‒class consumers, and political considerations pertaining to the public as consumers.Firstly, in the late 1840’s, British manufacturers became involved in the tea market by way of the barter trade involving British products and tea in China. This affected tea prices in the British market while at the same time accelerating political action on behalf of tea‒tax reduction by those with interests in the Chinese market.Secondly, from the mid‒nineteenth century, working‒class tea consumption was supported by the middle‒classes, which shared ideological views on the importance of free trade, temperance and improvement of working‒class conditions. In addition, Chartists who tried to take the initiative in political reform for the working class also promoted working‒class tea consumption in the course of their activities. Thus, these ideologies and movements formed a public opinion favorable to the mass consumption of tea and contributed to the realization of a reduction in the tax on tea.Finally, reflecting the demands of the middle and working classes, it became increasingly important for politicians of the time to develop policies with mass consumers in mind. Implementation of the tea‒tax reduction was thus a symbol of this change in awareness among politicians.From the above it can be concluded that the steady increase in the consumption of tea from the mid‒nineteenth century on, and the eventual establishment of tea as a national beverage, were due to the fact that a broad swath of society including middle class, working class, and politicians agreed, for both economic and ideological reason, on the desirability of expanding the consumption of tea by the masses.