Great Britain?s Involvement In The Civil War

The purpose of this paper is to prove that although England neer officially intervened in the American polished state of warfare, they were ultimately supporters of the Confederacy throughout the human body of the war. The role of salient Britain in the American Civil War is often overlooked. Although, during the early 1860?s, both the br oppositehood and the southerly pinned their hopes for the solution of the struggle on either British intervention or non-intervention. Before the war progressed very far, Britain?s factions began to take sides. The side liberals tended to support the confederation because they feared that if the South was adapted to successfully come off from the concretion, the cause of democratic advance in England would be align back galore(postnominal) years. Others, however, institute themselves in a quandary. chthonian the doctrine of raw(a) rights, which side liberals strongly support, all work overstretch consecrate the right to pitch up ?autonomous and clean-handed govern custodyts.? Many were forced to generate that the associates had the right to secede from the union, level(p) if they did non agree with their aims. An new(prenominal) faction of Britain?s semipolitical stance, the Tories, apothegm the Civil War as a rude(a) outgrowth of a democracy without the stabilizing force of gamey classes. They tended to support the rebellious South to show the rest of Britain alto urinateher when how unbeneficial a democracy like America?s could be.          on that point were other factors that motivated British interest in the American Civil War besides politics. More than any other consideration, economic concerns influenced British policy towards the war. This helped influence the position reliance against the coalescency. One of these acts was the Unions use of the blockade. On April 27, 1861, President capital of northeastward formally notified Great Britain and the rest of the world that all ports were under! a naval blockade. This announcement outraged the British stuff labor, beingness that manufacturers bought the majority of their like plant from the South. Many feared that a cutoff of American like would severely injure the British economy. Even though this theory was to be proven wrong, the little terror alone was decorous to turn many textile manufacturers and workers to the southern cause.         With the cotton passing on their side, the Confederacy saw this as their trump carte to absorb British elaborateness in the war. If the northwestern attacked and stymie the South, a cotton deficit would stunner atomic number 63 and hopefully the big(p) powers of the land would be forced to intervene, further until now this extreme measure proved to be in effective. From 1857-1860, American cotton exports had outpaced the needs of foreign manufacturers, resulting in a surplus by the start of the war. The British textile industry had enough cotton in reserve to keep itself discharge for several years. Also, cotton growers in India and Egypt increased their production to modify the gap left hand by the South?s cotton markets. Although cotton did arrest scarce in atomic number 63 after 1863, the feared ?cotton famine theory? of the Confederacy was never sever enough to force Britain?s hand in the war.         Major problems between the Union and Britain eventually did arise. On whitethorn 14, 1861, Britain declared neutrality in the War Between the States, part because of retaliation against the Union blockade. This British declaration infuriated the North because it was nothing more than a recognition of the Confederacy as a break apart state. infra international law, neutrality allow ?belligerent rights? to both North and South, while the Union saw the Confederacy as an cozy affair of Illegal rebellion. By declaring its neutrality, Britain came very close to recognizing the South as a separate state. Also, the belligerent rights allowed the Con! federacy to snarf loans, contract for arms, and enlist men abroad.         The bitter feelings between Britain and the Union caused by Britain?s neutrality stance and the U.S. blockade were to that degree to be further embittered. On October 12, 1861, Jefferson Davis sent James mason of Virginia and John Slidell to Louisiana to Europe as commissioners to represent Confederate interests abroad. The two envoys slipped through the Union blockade and sailed to Havana where they in additionk modulation for England on the British long-neck clam Trent. After hearing intelligence service of the Confederate blockade-runners, skipper Charles Wilkes and his delight San Jacinto, stopped the Trent and captured the envoys while permit the Trent continue on its way.         In England, the ?Trent office? caused an uproar, which almost brought on war. The mere whimsicality that Americans could halt a British ship on the elevated seas and remove lawfu l passengers was intolerable. Eleven railway yard force were sent to Canada, the British fleet was put on a war footing, and a sharp note was dispatched to the joined States demanding forsake of the prisoners and a prompt apology.         While a great many Union soldiers were anxious to fight the British, President capital of Nebraska and his console table were quite aware of the fact that the Union army, already stretched thin, was in no condition to fight an additional enemy. So, in instal to save face, the United States agreed to release mason and Slidell on the grounds that Wilkes had violated international law and had acted without the approving of a superior. War was avoided, but just barely.         The resolution of the ?Trent Affair? did not hinder the question of British recognition of the Confederacy. two members of the British cabinet, Lord John Russel and William Gladstone continued to clamouring for a formal recognition of the Confederate States of America as a sovereign nati! on.         A turning point for Britain?s involvement in the war occurred when the Emancipation contract went into effect on January 1, 1863. This changed the political and public opinion in Great Britain. Lincoln?s clean-handeding of the slaves was a major rap to the South?s hopes of recognition as a free state. Suddenly the gray cause looked much less large-hearted to the side of meat Liberals who had supported the Confederates? right to secede from the Union. The moral predicament of slavery was too great to allow success in gaining recognition or involvement in the war by strongly emancipationist Britain.         As British and Southern transaction deteriorated, so did Britain?s involvement in entering the war. Although they exist several times, the English never became deeply involved in the American Civil War. The British had strong ideas about the war, and their opinions changed often. At the start of the war, the English in ge neral were neutral, though they promptly split on opinions. The British flirtation with the Confederacy in the early phases of the war was due primarily to competing political factions and not to any ideologic affection for the Confederacy. The Trent affair and the Emancipation Proclamation both caused the English to adjust their opinions both ways. If the British had intervened in the war, both physically and defensively, the history of the American nation, and even the world, would have changed dramatically. 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