Browse Items (19 total)

This letter from the Wisconsin Senator was written at the height of the controversy over the Trent. Though the exact parameters of the diplomatic dialogue was still unknown to the majority of the American public, its tense nature was not lost. At the…

Written after the resolution of the Trent Affair controversy, this letter summarizes the American minister to Britain's perspective of the event. Noting the legal arguments surronding the case, particularly regarding the right of search. It reflects…

An 1863 outing of foreign ambassadors to the Union under Secretary of State William Seward, visiting New York's Trenton Falls; Secretary Seward stands at the far right, marked (1). The British Minister, Lord Lyons, sits in the middle with a white top…

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…

Secretary Seward was a driving force behind much of the North's international messaging over the course of the Civil War. Known as one of the most outspoken and active members of Lincoln's cabinet, Seward was a staunch Unionist who regularly…

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…

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…

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…