The American Civil War: The Relations Between Union And Confederacy

Throughout history, numerous countries around the world have been aiding and contending the United Sates. These early relations include associations with the global superpowers Britain, France, and Spain. It was no different during the Civil War, with the relations between the Union and Confederacy. Eventually, the Union won the war largely in part because the Union caused diplomatic issues between the Confederacy and their international allies, other allies supported them and the other countries have other wars to deal with. The American Civil War was a war fought by America on itself. The “Union” and “Confederacy” were the two sides fighting the war. The war decided the outcome of slavery in the United States- to abolish or not. The Union
Throughout the war, the Union tried to confine the Confederate’s trading to within its own borders. The reason for this is to cease the South from trading their valuable cotton with other parts of the world and becoming financially supreme. They received the nickname “King Cotton” because of their large manufacturing of cotton. This resource was so desirable that France stationed itself in Mexico (1861-1865) to barter with the Confederacy. The Union did not advocate this because they had created a blockade on all Confederate ports earlier in the war. The Union hoped that these blockades would trigger a response from Great Britain and would create international instability with the Confederacy. This was not the case as Britain passed a proclamation of neutrality on April 1861 but it still had a great effect on the war. British neutrality meant that they would not trade with the Confederacy thus weakening “King Cottons” power. However, on November 8, 1861, a diplomatic incident called the “Trent Affair” occurred. This arose shortly after
This started with the Union’s issue of how to control “King Cotton” . The Confederacy had hoped that Britain and France would play a key part in their economy by exchanging cotton with wartime necessities such as food, weapons, and ammunition. So, before the Union passed by the “Anaconda Plan”, the British had freely traded with both the North and the South (but were mostly interested in cotton from the South), providing both sides with resources. Once the Union passed the “Anaconda Plan”, the British soon declared themselves neutral as to not cause trouble with the Union side. The Confederates attempted to attract the attention of Great Britain and France in the form of the, then, controversial occurrence called the “Trent Affair”. It did not attract their attention so it was all for nothing. Even after the “Anaconda Plan”, the French still traded with the Confederacy by stationing itself in Mexico . Despite attempts by the Union to remove the foreign threat, they remained in Mexico for the remainder of the war and then some (1861-1867). Although they traded with the Confederacy, they were not the favorites to go to when it comes to migration, or rather immigration. European immigration to America during the Civil War increased and it was mainly in the Free States. This was because of the way the two economies compared to each other. In the North, the economy was not as