Synthesized answer
The sequence begins with the secession of the Southern States on the slavery question, followed by hostilities starting with the capture of Fort Sumter on April 13, 1861 [3]. President Lincoln then declared a blockade of southern ports on April 19 [1][3]. In response, the British government issued a proclamation of neutrality on May 14, recognizing the Confederates as belligerents, a step soon followed by France and other nations [1].
This recognition and the ineffective blockade enabled the Confederates to establish agencies in England to purchase arms, which were shipped to the Bahamas and transhipped into fast steamers [1]. In June 1862, the vessel later named “Alabama” (originally “No. 290”) was being built by Messrs. Laird at Birkenhead, obviously intended as a man-of-war [1]. Despite warnings from the U.S. consul and legal advice that she should be detained, delays in returning papers (due to the queen’s advocate’s illness) allowed her to sail on July 28 [4]. She then made her way to the Azores, where she received her armament from Liverpool and Captain Semmes took command under a Confederate commission [2][4]. The passages do not provide further causal links between the…
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From the book
tes on the 13th of April 1861. On the 19th of April President Abraham Lincoln declared a blockade of the southern ports. On the 14th of May the British government issued a proclamation of neutrality, by which the Confederates were recognized as belligerents. This example was followed shortly afterwards by France and other nations. The blockade of the southern ports was not at first effective, and blockade-running soon became an active industry. The Confederates established agencies in England for the purchase of arms, which they despatched in ordinary merchant vessels to the Bahamas, whence…
rpool in two British ships. Captain Semmes there took command of her under a commission from the Confederate government. After a most destructive career she was sunk off Cherbourg by the “Kearsarge” on the 19th of June 1864. On these facts the United States government alleged against Great Britain two grievances, or sets of grievances. The first was the recognition of the Southern States as belligerents and a general manifestation of unfriendliness in other ways. The second was in respect of breaches of neutrality in allowing the “Alabama,” the “Florida” (originally the “Oreto”, the…
← Alabama 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica , Volume 1 "Alabama" Arbitration by Montague Hughes Crackanthorpe Alabama River → See also Alabama Claims on Wikipedia ; and our 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica disclaimer . 244259 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica , Volume 1 — "Alabama" Arbitration Montague Hughes Crackanthorpe “ALABAMA” ARBITRATION. —This is one of those arbitrations on pecuniary claims, made by one state, on behalf of its subjects, against another state, which are referred to in the article Arbitration, International . The case is important, both from a historical and a juridical point of…
was laid before the law officers, who advised that, if these particulars were correct, the vessel ought to be detained. On the 21st of July sworn evidence, which was supplemented on the 23rd of July, was obtained and laid before the commissioners of customs (who were the proper authorities to enforce the provisions of the Foreign Enlistment Act of 1819), but they declined to move. On the 23rd of July the same evidence was laid before the law officers, who advised that there was sufficient ground for detention. By some accident, which has never been satisfactorily explained, but was probably…
d waters, and as to all persons within its jurisdiction to prevent any violation of the foregoing obligation and duties. The arrangements made by the commission were embodied in the treaty of Washington, which was signed on the 8th of May 1871, and approved by the Senate on the 24th of May. Article 1, after expressing the regret felt by Her Majesty’s government for the escape, in whatever circumstances, of the “Alabama” and other vessels from British ports, and for the depredations committed by these vessels, provided that “the claims growing out of the acts of the said vessels, and…
More questions about this book
- Explain the "Alabama" Arbitration as if to a child, highlighting *why* it was significant both historically and legally, and how it demonstrated arbitration's value.
- Critically analyze the British government's "proclamation of neutrality." How did recognizing the Confederates as belligerents both uphold and potentially challenge the spirit of neutrality in practice, especially regarding shipbuilding?
- If you were a British official in 1862, what *specific legal and diplomatic challenges* would arise if the "Alabama" were *not* detained, considering the information presented and the stated purpose of the vessel?
- Connecting the initial statement about arbitration to the specific facts, how did the detailed circumstances surrounding the "Alabama" controversy make arbitration an indispensable tool for preventing a wider conflict?