Browse Items (35 total)

Maintaining different levels of power throughout his career in Parliament, including as Prime Minister, John Russell, the 1st Earl Russell, served as Foreign Minister in the Liberal government under Lord Palmerston during the late 1850s and early…

From his position as the British envoy to Washington D.C., Lord Lyons served as a vital avenue of communication between the U.S. and U.K. Often meeting with Secretary of State Seward to discuss matters lying between their respective nations, it was…

Ewing's advice to the president echoes the general sentiment of Union diplomats following the controversy surrounding the response to the Trent in 1861. The issue of British shipyards constructing varied vessels for use in the South's navy quickly…

Part of a set of prints by Peter Kramer, these two images point to the interests of the European powers observing the conflict in America. The top image shows the figure of Queen Victoria, representing the British Empire, and the military threat…

Relating to the matter of British shipbuilding for the Confederate Navy, this letter from Governor Andrew to the president reflects American concerns of the persistence of this practice. Occuring even as news of the career of the raider Alabama's…

Union concerns over the building of ironclads in Britain for use in the Confederate navy led to increased pressure upon the British government to intervene and halt their construction. In this letter, acting Secretary of the Navy Gustavus Fox doubts…

The news of the Trent's stopping and the arrest of its Southern diplomatic passengers, James Mason and John Slidell, by the Union provoked confusion and anger among the British. The popular views of the incident considered the actions of Union…

The Trent, a British packet ship transporting to England two Confederate diplomats, James Mason and John Slidell, had left Havana, Cuba on November 7th, 1861. Captain Charles Wilkes of the USS San Jacinto became aware of the diplomats' movements and…

In response to the economic instability brought about by the American Civil War, affecting production and the consumption of goods and materials, John Bull (England) looks to other markets free of less shaken by an 'inconvenient' conflict. Economic…

King Cotton - interpreted here as a caricature of European-style monarchs, displaying elements of the British government - recieves a dangerous gift from Union General George McClellan. The illustration mocks British reliance on southern cotton while…