The ''Alabama'' Claims were a series of demands for damages sought by the
government of the United States from the
United Kingdom in 1869, for the attacks upon
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''U ...
merchant ships by
Confederate Navy
The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the Navy, naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the Amer ...
commerce raiders
Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than enga ...
built in British shipyards during the
American Civil War. The claims focused chiefly on the most famous of these raiders, the , which took more than sixty prizes before she was
sunk off the French coast in 1864.
After
international arbitration endorsed the American position in 1872, Britain settled the matter by paying the United States $15.5 million, ending the dispute and leading to a treaty that restored friendly relations between Britain and the United States. That international arbitration established a precedent, and the case aroused interest in codifying
public international law.
British political involvement
The
British Prime Minister
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...
Lord Palmerston
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the period ...
and
Foreign Secretary Lord John Russell failed to stop the ''Alabama'' from putting to sea from the
shipyards of
John Laird Sons and Company
Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...
in
Birkenhead
Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverp ...
. The United States Legation in London had explicitly opposed this, and the
American Minister to Britain,
Charles Francis Adams, charged that the ship was bound for the Confederacy, where it would be used against the United States.
Though both the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary were thought to favor the Confederacy at the time of ''Alabama'' construction, British public opinion was divided on the issue, and MPs such as
Richard Cobden campaigned against it. The subsequent departure of the ''Alabama'' proved to be publicly embarrassing, and Palmerston and Russell were later forced to admit that the ship should not have been allowed to depart. The Government had requested advice from the
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
,
Sir Alexander Cockburn
Sir Alexander James Edmund Cockburn, 12th Baronet (24 September 1802 – 20 November 1880) was a British jurist and politician who served as the Lord Chief Justice for 21 years. He heard some of the leading '' causes célèbres'' of the nine ...
, who ruled that her release did not violate Britain's neutrality, because she was not outfitted with guns at the time that they left British ports.
In the next year, Britain detained two
ironclad warships constructed in
Birkenhead
Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverp ...
and destined for the Confederacy. As a result of the uproar over the ''Alabama'', Palmerston instructed the
British Admiralty
The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...
to tender an offer for the purchase of the ships. They had been bought by a go-between, Monsieur Bravay of
Paris (who had ordered their construction as intermediary for Confederate principals).
The claims
In what were called the ''Alabama Claims'', in 1869 the United States claimed direct and collateral damage against Great Britain. In the particular case of the ''Alabama'', the United States claimed that Britain had violated neutrality by allowing five warships to be constructed, especially the ''Alabama'', knowing that it would eventually enter into naval service with the
Confederacy.
Other particulars included the following: In the summer of 1862, the British-built steam warship ''Oreto'' was delivered to
Nassau in the
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...
with the secret understanding that it would be later transferred to the
Confederate States Navy
The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the America ...
. Upon transfer, it was commissioned
CSS ''Florida''. British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
Admiral
George Willes Watson (1827–1897) aided the transfer, and Watson's actions were reviewed by the tribunal.
Other warships included the (built at
Alexander Stephen and Sons
Alexander Stephen and Sons Limited, often referred to simply as Alex Stephens or just Stephens, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Linthouse, Glasgow, on the River Clyde and, initially, on the east coast of Scotland.
History
The com ...
in Glasgow), (built at John Laird and Sons, like the ''Alabama''), and (built at
J & W Dudgeon
J & W Dudgeon was a Victorian shipbuilding and engineering company based in Cubitt Town, London, founded by John and William Dudgeon.
John and William Dudgeon had established the ''Sun Iron Works'' in Millwall in the 1850s, and had a reputatio ...
in London).
Payment
Senator
Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American statesman and United States Senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of th ...
of
Massachusetts, the chairman of the U.S.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, originally wanted to ask for $2 billion in damages, or alternatively, the ceding of
Canada to the United States. When American Secretary of State
William H. Seward
William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States Senator. A determined oppon ...
negotiated the
Alaska Purchase
The Alaska Purchase (russian: Продажа Аляски, Prodazha Alyaski, Sale of Alaska) was the United States' acquisition of Alaska from the Russian Empire. Alaska was formally transferred to the United States on October 18, 1867, through a ...
in 1867, he intended it as the first step in a comprehensive plan to gain control of the entire northwest Pacific Coast. Seward was a firm believer in "
Manifest Destiny", primarily for its commercial advantages to the United States. Seward expected the West Coast Province of
British Columbia to seek annexation to the United States and thought Britain might accept this in exchange for the ''Alabama'' claims. Soon other U.S. politicians endorsed annexation, with the goal of annexing British Columbia, the central Canadian
Red River Colony
The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assinboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hudson's Bay C ...
(later
Manitoba), and eastern
Nova Scotia, in exchange for dropping the damage claims.
The idea reached a peak in the spring and summer of 1870, with American expansionists, Canadian separatists, and British anti-imperialists seemingly combining forces. The plan was dropped for several reasons: London continued to stall, American commercial and financial groups pressed Washington for a quick settlement of the dispute in cash,
Canada offered to have British Columbia enter the Canadian Confederation on very generous terms, which bolstered nationalist sentiment in British Columbia that already favored fealty to the British Empire, Congress became preoccupied with
Reconstruction, and most Americans showed little interest in territorial expansion after the long years, expenses and losses of the Civil War.
Treaty of Washington
In 1871,
Hamilton Fish, President
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...
's Secretary of State, worked out an agreement with British representative
Sir John Rose to create a commission in Washington comprising six members from the British Empire and six members from the United States. Its assignment was to resolve the ''Alabama'' claims, refinancing, and other international disputes between Canada and the United States by treaty. On March 8, 1871, the
Treaty of Washington was signed at the State Department and the U.S. Senate ratified the treaty on May 24, 1871. In accord with the treaty, an international
arbitration
Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ' ...
tribunal met in Geneva. The treaty included the settlement process for the ''Alabama'' Claims, settled disputed Atlantic fisheries and the
San Juan Boundary (concerning the
Oregon boundary line). Britain and the United States became perpetual allies after the treaty, with Britain having expressed regret over the ''Alabama'' damages.
The tribunal
The tribunal was composed of representatives:
*Britain:
Sir Alexander Cockburn
Sir Alexander James Edmund Cockburn, 12th Baronet (24 September 1802 – 20 November 1880) was a British jurist and politician who served as the Lord Chief Justice for 21 years. He heard some of the leading '' causes célèbres'' of the nine ...
*United States:
Charles Francis Adams, with
William Maxwell Evarts serving as counsel
*
Italy:
Federico Sclopis
*
Switzerland:
Jakob Stämpfli
*
Brazil:
Marcos Antônio de Araújo, 2nd Baron of Itajubá.
Negotiations had taken place in
Suitland, Maryland, at the estate of businessman
Samuel Taylor Suit
Samuel Taylor Suit (1832–1888) was a Maryland politician and landowner. Suit was born in Bladensburg, Maryland, the son of innkeeper Fielder Suit. At age 14 he left home and traveled first to Keokuk, Iowa, and then to Louisville, Kentucky. In Ken ...
. The tribunal session was held in a reception room of the Town Hall in
Geneva,
Switzerland. This has been named .
The final award of $15,500,000 formed part of the
Treaty of Washington and was paid out by Great Britain in 1872. This was balanced against damages of $1,929,819 paid by the United States to Great Britain for illegal Union blockade practices and ceded fishing privileges.
Legacy
This established the principle of international
arbitration
Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ' ...
, and launched a movement to codify
public international law with hopes for finding peaceful solutions to international disputes. The arbitration of the ''Alabama'' claims was a precursor to the
Hague Convention, the
League of Nations, the
World Court
The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...
, and the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
. The Alabama Claims inspired international jurist
Gustave Moynier
Gustave Moynier (21 September 1826 – 21 August 1910) was a Swiss Jurist who was active in many charitable organizations in Geneva.
He was a co-founder of the "International Committee for Relief to the Wounded", which became the International Com ...
to pursue legal arrangements to enforce international treaties in the 1870s. The
Soviet Union carefully studied the ''Alabama'' claims when assessing whether it could claim damages in response to
Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War
Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War or Allied Powers intervention in the Russian Civil War consisted of a series of multi-national military expeditions which began in 1918. The Allies first had the goal of helping the Czechoslovak Legi ...
.
According to
Vladimir Nabokov, the core incident has a legacy in literary reference, being used as a plot device in ''
Anna Karenina
''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writte ...
'', by
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
. In one early passage, Stiva Oblonsky has a dream that may show his having read of the Alabama Claims through the ''Kölnische Zeitung''. and in the
Jules Verne novel ''Around the World in Eighty Days'' Inspector Fix warns Phileas Fogg that the riot they encounter in San Francisco may be connected to the claim.
See also
*
Prize (law)
*
Blockade runners of the American Civil War
The blockade runners of the American Civil War were seagoing steam ships that were used to get through the Union blockade that extended some along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastlines and the lower Mississippi River. The Confederate state ...
*
The Great Rapprochement
The Great Rapprochement is a historical term referring to the convergence of diplomatic, political, military, and economic objectives of the United States and the British Empire from 1895 to 1915, the two decades before American entry into World ...
References
Bibliography
* (see external links)
*
*, reprinted in the Michigan Historical Reprint Series,
*, reprinted in
* Blegen, Theodore C. "A Plan for the Union of British North America and the United States, 1866." ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'' 4.4 (1918): 470-48
online
*
*, the standard scholarly history
*
Further reading
*"The United States," ''
The Times'', September 23, 1873, 8d.
External links
*
Geneva Arbitration, 1872(in English and French)
*
Cartoon
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of image ...
s from ''
Harper's Weekly'':
"John Bull's Neutrality" November 1, 1862
"King Andy" November 3, 1866. Note that the medallion worn by
Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles is engraved with the number "290", the original dockyard number for the ''Alabama''.
"The Apple of Discord at the Geneva Convention" October 5, 1872
"Columbia Lays Aside her Laurels" November 9, 1872. Note that the "laurels" laid aside are those won at the Geneva arbitration.
*
' ''Op. cit.'' at
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libra ...
La salle de l'Alabama in the Hotel de Ville, GenevaEdwin H. Abbott Papers, W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, University of Alabama
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1871 in case law
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Claims
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Foreign relations during the American Civil War
Legal history of the United Kingdom
Legal history of the United States
United Kingdom–United States relations
Victorian era