Synthesized answer
The passages show that the "Alabama" vessel was built in Britain by Messrs. Laird at Birkenhead, nearly completed by June 1862, and obviously intended as a man-of-war [1]. Despite the U.S. consul alerting the British government, the vessel was allowed to escape and later commissioned by the Confederacy, causing extensive damage before being sunk [1][2]. This incident directly led to U.S. grievances over British breaches of neutrality, specifically allowing Confederate vessels to be built and equipped on British territory [2]. The resulting diplomatic crisis was resolved only by submitting the "Alabama" claims to arbitration, with Britain consenting to three rules defining neutral duties—such as using "due diligence" to prevent arming or equipping warships for belligerents [3][4].
The narrative illuminates broader tensions in maintaining neutrality during the American Civil War. Britain's initial proclamation of neutrality recognized the Confederates as belligerents, which the U.S. viewed as unfriendly [1][2]. Meanwhile, blockade-running became an active industry, with Confederates purchasing arms in England and transhipping them via fast steamers from the Bahamas [1]. These…
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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…
rst agreed upon.” After some discussion the British commissioners consented that the three following rules should apply. A neutral government is bound—(1) to use due diligence to prevent the fitting out, arming or equipping within its jurisdiction of any vessel, which it has reasonable ground to believe is intended to cruise or to carry on war against a power with which it is at peace, and also to use like diligence to prevent the departure from its jurisdiction of any vessel intended to cruise or carry on war as above, such vessel having been specially adapted, in whole or in part, within…
. With respect to the “Alabama” claims the British commissioners suggested that they should be submitted to arbitration. The American commissioners refused “unless the principles which should govern the arbitrators in the consideration of the facts could be first agreed upon.” After some discussion the British commissioners consented that the three following rules should apply.
← 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…
More questions about this book
- The British government declared neutrality yet recognized the Confederates as belligerents. Explain the crucial difference between these two declarations from an international law perspective and articulate how recognizing belligerency, in this context, could complicate true neutrality.
- The "Alabama" was "obviously intended for a man-of-war" and built in a neutral British port. Trace the sequence of events regarding the vessel's construction and subsequent British legal advice, and explain what specific international legal obligations or ethical considerations might have been violated by its continued construction or delayed detention.
- The text emphasizes arbitration as a means of averting war. Given the events surrounding the "Alabama," how might the situation have escalated between the United States and Great Britain if arbitration had not ultimately been pursued, and what makes this case such a significant example of its value?
- Consider the challenge faced by the British government upon receiving evidence about the "Alabama"'s true purpose. What specific duties did they have under international law at that moment, and what were the potential long-term diplomatic and legal consequences of failing to act decisively?