The American Civil War and British Intervention: The Threat of Anglo-American Conflict

This chapter examines how sea power was utilised and adjusted by America and Britain in order to diffuse political tensions and keep the balance of power and their individual commercial endeavours protected. In particular, it examines Anglo-American co-operation and conflict during the 1840s and 1850s; Spanish-American filibusters; naval policing; and the American Civil War. It concludes that by 1860, Britain and America were intent on avoiding conflict with one another, and that as civil war broke out in America, Britain avoided becoming embroiled in the conflict.

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The Ties that Bind

The Ties that Bind ◽

10.3828/liverpool/9781789622003.003.0007 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 147-178

Author(s):

J. R. Oldfield

Keyword(s):

Civil War ◽

Lived Experience ◽

American Civil War ◽

Abolitionist Movement ◽

William Lloyd Garrison ◽

George Thompson ◽

Anglo American ◽

Personal Context

This Chapter looks in details at the close personal friendship between George Thompson and William Lloyd Garrison, from their first meeting in London in 1833 to Thompson’s death in 1878. It explores in detail Thompson’s loyalty to Garrison, a loyalty that in many ways alienated him from mainstream British abolitionists. The Chapter also discusses Thompson’s role in raising British support for the Union cause during the American Civil War. Part of the intention here is to set Anglo-American co-operation within a personal context. The friendship between Thompson and Garrison sheds important light on how personal bonds underpinned the wider transatlantic abolitionist movement, at the same time accentuating the importance of international co-operation, not simply as an idea but as a lived experience.

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John Elliot Cairnes and the American Civil War: A Study in Anglo-American Relations.

The Economic History Review ◽

10.2307/2594669 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 599

Author(s):

Harold D. Woodman ◽

Adelaide Weinberg

Keyword(s):

Civil War ◽

American Civil War ◽

Anglo American

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John Elliot Cairnes and the American Civil War: A Study in Anglo-American Relations.

The Journal of Southern History ◽

10.2307/2206329 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 36 (4) ◽

pp. 607

Author(s):

J. Cutler Andrews ◽

Adelaide Weinberg

Keyword(s):

Civil War ◽

American Civil War ◽

Anglo American

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Swords into Plowshares: A Pilgrimage for the CSS Alabama

Arbitration International ◽

10.1093/arbint/aiab025 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 515-532

Author(s):

William W Park

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Civil War ◽

Armed Conflict ◽

The United States ◽

American Civil War ◽

International Arbitration ◽

Arbitral Proceedings ◽

Anglo American ◽

British Colonies ◽

Historical Consequence

Abstract During the American Civil War, Britain sold ships to the Southern Confederacy in breach of neutrality obligations, triggering a dispute with the United States carrying threats of armed conflict. Some American politicians saw the dispute as an opportunity to annex Canada, then a weak assemblage of British colonies. Ultimately, arbitration in Geneva averted war, opening an era of long Anglo-American cooperation. The historical consequence of this landmark 1872 arbitration remains difficult to overstate. In addition to its diplomatic importance, the case introduced significant procedural precedents for international arbitration, including dissenting options, reasoned awards, party-appointed arbitrators, collegial deliberations, and arbitrators’ declarations on their own jurisdiction. The saga of the CSS Alabama, the vessel from which the arbitration took its name, provides a narrative as griping in detail as the arbitral proceedings prove meaningful in legal legacy.

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