"I'm the Map, I'm the Map, I'm the Map..I'M THE MAP!"

Questions:
How does Great Britain have so many colonies?
When did they lose most of their stuff?
How did they rule? Force? Good laws?
Were there really that many independent nations?
How come the US doesn't have many colonies?
How come Japan only expanded to Korea and Taiwan?
How does Denmark have so much land?
Did the small countries really feel so small and unresourceful that they had to go bother other people?
Were there other European countries that tried to colonize and expand?
Who was nicer? Who was meaner?  How did these countries rule?  Did they keep the people they conquered happy?
Why does Britain decide to go everywhere?
What did all these places have that the European countries didn't have?

Dear Queen Victoria...Opium Needs to Stop...

In his letter, Lin Zexu describe his feelings towards opium with the word "poison" multiple times.  He also explain his feelings with the use of religious beliefs.  He basically said that opium was killing people and that it smelled bad.  He also said that opium was upsetting the gods and Heaven, which indicates that he thinks there are many consequences to the drug.  He also says that the opium is a "evil."  His description of the drug basically shows he attaches "death" to the drug.  The punishments for the opium peddlers definitely support Lin Zexu's perception of the drug.  He said that any peddler is sentenced to death because of the drug.  This punishment is really harsh but it definitely reflects how he thinks that opium kills people and that he thinks it needs to stop to prevent innocent Chinese people from dying from opium.  In other words, the punishment got rid of opium peddlers and it prevented other people from getting addicted.  It would help China because people would not be addicts and they would be living in real life which helped China.