Charles Francis Adams, U.S. minister to Great Britain, threatens war unless the British honor their neutrality and stop construction on a warship allegedly being built for the Confederacy.
Category: Foreign Relations
The Erlanger Loan
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.
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.