Confederate commissioner John Slidell and representatives of Emile Erlanger, head of France’s most influential bank, negotiate a loan to the Confederacy for $15 million to help finance the war.
Category: Foreign Relations
The Peterhoff Affair
A U.S. warship seizes a British merchant vessel in neutral waters, which threatens to cause an international crisis.
Interference in a Family Dispute
U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward unilaterally declines an offer by French Emperor Napoleon III to mediate the conflict between the U.S. and the Confederacy.
Continuing as Mere Lookers-On
The leaders of Great Britain express new reluctance to recognize Confederate independence, and Emperor Napoleon III of France proposes foreign mediation between the two warring factions.
Foreign Powers Consider Mediation
As news of the Federal setbacks travels overseas, the European powers begin to seriously consider mediating an end to the war and recognizing Confederate independence.
Treated as Maniacs or Wild Beasts
Federal forces effectively suppress the Sioux uprising of 1862 by driving much of the tribe out of Minnesota.