Browse Items (14 total)

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…

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…

This song sheet celebrates the actions of the Confederate Army in its early victories against the Northern military. The idea of 'King Cotton' dominates the themes of the song, based upon the strong association between the South and the perceived…

Captured by the Union alongside his fellow Confederate diplomat, James Mason, in the 1861 Trent Affair, John Slidell's intended post was making appeals on the South's behalf to the French government under Napoleon III. After being released, Slidell…

James M. Mason played an important role for Confederate activity in the United Kingdom, organizing funds and the purchase of supplies and ships. Following his arrest and release as part of the Trent Affair of 1861, Mason began his work in London,…

Pursued by Union warships after its final cruises in the Far East, the Alabama is cornered in the French port of Cherbourg by the USS Kearsarge. Captain Raphael Semmes moves to damaged ship into a final engagement, where it soon sinks. The Deerhound,…

Henry Hotze was a Swiss-born immigrant to the United States who would become one of the Confederacy's prominent propaganda agents abroad. Operating as a journalist in Alabama prior to the war, Hotze would later enter into work for the Confederate…

This scene presents the results of early attempts by the Confederate government, represented by CSA President Jefferson Davis, to attain greater European support. Depicted being addressed by Queen Victoria of Britain and Napoleon III of France,…