Alabama Claims facts for kids
The Alabama Claims were a series of demands made by the United States government to the United Kingdom in 1869. The U.S. wanted money for the damage caused to its merchant ships during the American Civil War. These attacks were carried out by Confederate ships, like the famous CSS Alabama, which were built in British shipyards.
The CSS Alabama was the most well-known of these ships. It captured more than sixty U.S. merchant vessels before it was sunk off the French coast in 1864. In 1872, an international group of judges agreed with the U.S. position. Britain then paid the United States $15.5 million. This payment ended the disagreement and helped improve relations between Britain and the U.S. This event also set an important example for solving international problems peacefully through arbitration.
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Why Britain Was Involved
Britain's Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, and Foreign Secretary, Lord John Russell, didn't stop the Alabama from leaving the shipyards of John Laird Sons and Company in Birkenhead. The U.S. ambassador to Britain, Charles Francis Adams, had clearly warned that the ship was meant for the Confederacy to use against the U.S.
Even though some British leaders seemed to support the Confederacy, public opinion in Britain was mixed. Some politicians, like Richard Cobden, spoke out against building these ships. The Alabama leaving Britain caused public embarrassment. Later, Palmerston and Russell admitted that the ship should not have been allowed to leave. They had asked for legal advice, and a judge said that letting the ship go was okay because it didn't have its guns installed yet.
The next year, Britain stopped two other powerful warships, called ironclads, from being built in Birkenhead for the Confederacy. Because of the trouble caused by the Alabama, Palmerston told the British navy to buy these ships instead.
What the Claims Were About
In 1869, the United States demanded money from Great Britain for direct and indirect damages. The main claim was that Britain had broken its neutrality. This happened by allowing five warships, especially the Alabama, to be built, knowing they would join the Confederate navy.
Other ships mentioned in the claims included:
- In 1862, the British-built ship Oreto was delivered to Nassau. It was secretly planned to be given to the Confederate States Navy. Once transferred, it became the CSS Florida (cruiser) (Florida). A British Admiral, George Willes Watson, helped with this transfer.
- Other warships were the CSS Shenandoah, CSS Lark, and CSS Tallahassee.
Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts also demanded payment for "indirect damages." He argued that British ships, called blockade runners, helped the Confederacy greatly. These ships smuggled in gunpowder, rifles, and cannons, which helped the war continue longer. Sumner believed this added two years to the Civil War and caused 400,000 more deaths.
Paying for the Damages
Senator Sumner first asked for $2 billion in damages from Britain. He even suggested that Britain could give Canada to the U.S. instead. When U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward bought Alaska in 1867, he hoped it would be the first step to gaining control of the entire northwest Pacific Coast. Seward believed in "Manifest Destiny," which was the idea that the U.S. should expand across North America.
Seward thought that British Columbia might want to join the United States. He also thought Britain might agree to this in exchange for dropping the Alabama claims. Other U.S. politicians also supported taking over British Columbia, the Red River Colony (now Manitoba), and Nova Scotia.
This idea was popular around 1870. However, the plan was eventually dropped for several reasons. Britain kept delaying, and American businesses wanted a quick cash settlement. Canada offered British Columbia very good terms to join the Canadian Confederation, which strengthened Canadian loyalty to Britain. Also, the U.S. Congress was busy with Reconstruction after the Civil War, and most Americans were not interested in more land expansion.
The Treaty of Washington
In 1871, Hamilton Fish, who was President Ulysses S. Grant's Secretary of State, worked with British representative Sir John Rose. They agreed to create a special group with six members from the British Empire and six from the United States. This group's job was to solve the Alabama claims and other disagreements between Canada and the U.S.
On March 8, 1871, the Treaty of Washington was signed. The U.S. Senate approved it on May 24, 1871. According to the treaty, an international group of judges met in Geneva, Switzerland. The treaty laid out how the Alabama Claims would be settled, but it did not include the "indirect damages." It also settled disputes about fishing rights and the San Juan Boundary line. After this treaty, Britain and the United States became strong allies, and Britain expressed regret for the Alabama damages.
The Judges' Decision
The group of judges included representatives from:
- Britain: Sir Alexander Cockburn
- United States: Charles Francis Adams
- Italy: Federico Sclopis
- Switzerland: Jakob Stämpfli
- Brazil: Marcos Antônio de Araújo, 2nd Baron of Itajubá
The judges met in a special room at the Town Hall in Geneva, Switzerland, which is now called the salle de l'Alabama (Alabama Room).
In 1872, Great Britain paid $15.5 million to the United States as part of the Treaty of Washington. In return, the United States paid Britain $1,929,819 for some illegal actions during the Union blockade and for fishing rights.
What We Learned From This
This event was very important because it showed that international problems could be solved peacefully through arbitration. It helped start a movement to create clear rules for public international law. The Alabama Claims arbitration was a step towards later international groups like the Hague Convention, the League of Nations, the World Court, and the United Nations.
The Alabama Claims also inspired a lawyer named Gustave Moynier to work on legal ways to make sure international treaties were followed in the 1870s. The Soviet Union even studied the Alabama claims later to see if they could ask for damages after the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War.
The story of the Alabama Claims even appears in books! For example, in Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, a character has a dream that might be from reading about the claims. And in Jules Verne's novel Around the World in Eighty Days, a character warns that a riot in San Francisco might be related to the claims.
See Also
- Prize (law)
- Blockade runners of the American Civil War
- The Great Rapprochement
