Europe's Role In The American Civil War

The American Civil War, a result of Southern states seceding after Republican Abraham Lincoln became president, lasted from 1861 to 1865.The war ended with a surrender from the Confederacy, with more than 600,000 deaths from both sides. Although the American Civil War was fought on the other side of the world, Europe still had interest and played a role in it. To begin, Europe sent envoys to report on what was going on in America during the war. An envoy was not a spy. In fact, spies took information from their opposing territory and brought back information on battle plans and number of forces. On the other hand, reporters published stories and news on the war in newspapers. For example, Colonel Garnet Wolseley was one of the first military observers, writing for Blackwood Magazine. He favored the South and wrote things like, “My dislike of the people of the United States and my delight at seeing their swagger and bunkum rudely kicked out of them.” (74, A) These European …show more content…
Textile manufacturers needed the South’s cotton to stay in business. In a strong attempt to gain recognition, Southerners withheld cotton from England and France. This plan was called the “King Cotton Plan”. This appeared to be a good idea considering, “Cotton impacted the livelihoods of one in five Englishmen in some way.” (2, H) However, this plan did not work like they thought it would, “There was just one flaw with the plan: England and France both already had more cotton than they knew what to do with.” (D) Britain had saved too much cotton from 1860 and the war actually saved the country from an industrial slump. Once the extra cotton was used up, Britain switched to India and Egypt to obtain cotton. Instead, “...cotton rotted in Southern docks instead of being sold to raise money the South badly needed.” (13-14, F) To conclude, the South’s plan to become recognized backfired and resulted in a devastating