How Did Britain React to the American Civil War?#
Johannes Siedersleben, Oxford, August 2014
In 1861 the Crimean war was still a recent and painful memory: Russia had tried to avail herself of parts of waning Turkey, but Britain and France considered Russia a nail standing out and helped Turkey to pound it down. Russia lost the war and supported henceforth America following the principle that my enemy’s enemy is my friend. The Crimean war is notable for at least two facts:
It was one of the first wars to employ modern machinery such as railways and telegraphs on a large scale and was in this regard a predecessor of the Civil War.
It was a slaughter involving over 800,000 dead. The name to mention here is Florence Nightingale who cared for the wounded.
In 1861 Germany was rising under Bismarck, anxiously observed by Britain and France. Italy was experiencing her painful reunification, fighting against waning Austria with the help of France. France was busy with Italy, reconstructing Paris from scratch and largely uninterested in America. The Union played the King Corn Card: They had plenty of food to deliver to Europe and did so throughout the war. After several bad crops, food was badly needed in particular by the British. The Confederacy tried to play the King Cotton Card. Their idea was to blackmail Britain: Either you recognize us or you won’t get cotton any more. This didn’t work out too well because cotton wasn’t needed as badly as food and could be had from India or Egypt. Britain recognized the Confederates no more than anybody else; however, two Confederate emissaries were received to the great displeasure of the Union. Britain’s attitude towards the beginning war was officially one of distance and neutrality. One could be led to expect Britain to be in favour of the North because of her impressive anti-slavery record including the Somerset Case in 1772, the Slave Trade Act in 1807 and the West African Squadron operating from 1808 to 1860. But the slavery issue wasn’t among the prevailing points of interest, and the North did include slave states. As Lord Russell put it: “Slavery was not the issue. They were contending as so many states of the Old World have contended, the one for empire and the other power.”
Britain’s attitude towards the American Civil War was also marked by contempt and malicious joy. America was still considered by many a boy in his adolescence doing badly. One English peer commented: “I see in America the trial of Democracy and its failure.” After the Confederate victory at the Battle of Bull Run (21 July 61) “literally no one in Britain doubted that Jefferson Davis had made or would make a nation, and nearly all were glad of it, though not often saying so”, according to C.F. Adams secretary. Henry Adams noted: “The Governments and society of Europe regarded the Washington Government as dead.” Cassius Clay, the US Minister in Russia, had strong views about the British: “They are jealous of our power, they hate North and South, they hope for our ruin.”
The Trent affair was a decisive point, and the Union was on the verge of declaring war on Britain. This was tellingly commented as follows: “It would be madness for the North to provoke a war with Britain, but that is exactly the sort of insanity to be expected from Americans.” The disdain was confined to the upper and middle class which “rushed into a furious pro-Southern partisanship”, to quote John Stuart Mill. The North did however receive support from the working class, as can be seen from the Manchester Letter to Lincoln.
It wasn’t until the battle of Antietam (17 September 1862) and, finally, the Battle of Gettysburg (1-3 July 1863) that Britain accepted the dominance of the North and the fact that the United States would emerge unified out of this war. But no one could imagine that not even a lifetime later, in 1918, this remote country should be one of the leading nations of the world.
References#
[1] Kathleen Burk: Old World, New World. The Story of Britain and America. Abacus, 2009