"Wrap the World In Fire," Part III: Confederate Foreign Policy with Great Britain

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"Wrap the World In Fire," Part III: Confederate Foreign Policy with Great Britain

"No you dare not make war on cotton.  No power on earth dares to make war upon it.  Cotton is king!" -South Carolina Senator James Hammond

To a certain extent, the Confederacy's foreign policy can be summed up by the bold words of James Hammond above.  As my previous posts have examined examined possible reasons for British intervention in the Civil War and Union efforts to prevent such an intervention, it is time to turn our eyes South and explore Confederate foreign policy with Great Britain.  The Confederacy built much of its policy around "King Cotton," and the result was a foreign policy more disastrous than many could imagine.

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"Wrap the World in Fire," Part II: Union Foreign Policy with Great Britain

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"Wrap the World in Fire," Part II: Union Foreign Policy with Great Britain

Abraham Lincoln and Union leaders realized from the war's outset the grave threat British intervention posed.  Intervention likely meant successful Confederate independence.  No matter what form, be it mediation, recognition, or literal intervention, any attempt by the British to interfere was based upon separation of North and South.  The causes of the Union and Confederacy were mutually exclusive; either the Union remained whole or the Confederacy earned independence.  British intervention effectively destroyed the cause of preserving the Union.

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"Wrap the World in Fire," Part I: The Possibility of British Intervention in the American Civil War

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"Wrap the World in Fire," Part I: The Possibility of British Intervention in the American Civil War

“If any European Power provokes a war, we shall not shrink from it.  A contest between Great Britain and the United States would wrap the world in fire.”  United States Secretary of State William Seward uttered these bold words in the summer of 1861, while his nation tore apart at the seams.  Yet despite the secession of eleven Southern states, Seward pondered the possibility of war with Great Britain, the world's foremost power.  Why?  The answer lies in the high-stakes game of diplomacy that was played by both the Union and Confederacy with Great Britain during the American Civil War.  For the Union, foreign intervention in the conflict was a constant threat, one that might ensure Southern independence.  Conversely, the Confederacy constantly sought and expected foreign recognition and intervention, seeking support and validation for their secession. 

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