taiping rebellion

The terms of the Treaty of Nanjing were: Hong Kong ceded to the English, and pay the English an indemnity.  They also agreed to four additional seaports for trade. A year later, a supplemental treaty was agreed by the same parties, Treaty of the Bogue. This gave English citizens the rights to extra-territoriality.

The Americans signed their own treaty with the Qing Dynasty. It is known as the Treaty of Wangxia (1844).  It gave the Americans the same treatment as the English.

The Emperor Daoguang died in 1850.  His successor was the Emperor Xian Feng. He is probably most associated with the seminal event in the Dynasty’s history, the Taiping Rebellion.

The rebellion would take the Dynasty fourteen years to stop. The new feature of this rebellion was its leader - Hong Xiuquan. He preached that he was the son of God. He wanted to establish a Kingdom of God.

By 1853, the rebels established their Kingdom at Nanjing. Despite their early success and momentum, they stalled at Nanjing.  Initially the English and the French were neutral toward the rebels.  They only requested that the treaty ports be unaffected. 

The religious roots of the Taiping Rebellion.