'Henry John Temple, the Viscount Palmerston'

'Henry John Temple, the Viscount Palmerston'

Portrait of Lord Palmerston, British Prime Minister during the American Civil War

Serving as Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston guided Britain through, or better put, around the affairs of the American Civil War. The leader of the nation most likely to intervene in the conflict, and at times Palmerston faced the temptation to do so. His own opinions on the conflict varied, from favoring a perpetually divided America weakened by a Southern victory, to a general desire for continued British neutrality. While the latter interest ultimately won out, the Prime Minister remained a face of percieved Confederate sympathies. Palmerston, members of his government, and others in Parliament garnered criticism from the Northern public and press, facing repeated pressures from the U.S. State department to both stay out of the conflict and address the matter of Confederate activity and support within the United Kingdom.

Engraved by John Sartain, Philadelphia, for the Eclectic Magazine

New York Public Library

Digitized in the New York Public Library Digital Collections, https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/79c1ff9c-c2bc-9f57-e040-e00a18061f18

Between 1835 and 1865

Public Domain.

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection

Portrait clipping

English

Still Image

Portrait Clipping