Did Great Britain actually give the Confederacy recognized status even though they claimed neutrality?

Question

At the start of the U.S. Civil War Queen Victoria of Great Britian announced that her country would be neutral, but she granted the Confederacy "belligerent status" so that British merchants could trade with Confederate States. Was this an official recognition and did it negate Britian's neutrality?

Answer 1

It was a cautionary act on the part of Her Majesty's government; it more or less was a step towards recognition, and would have been followed by complete diplomatic recognition had the war turned strongly in favour of the Confederacy.

The economic primacy of Great Britain in those days required British merchants to have unrestricted markets, and the American conflict caught Britain in a difficult situation. She did not want to lose her American markets or the opportunities of economic ties, whatever the result of the war. With this being the case, she needed to make some concession to the Confederacy without angering the Union. The status of belligerent allowed British trade to continue as best it might, faced with the Union blockade of southern ports, and also allowed the Confederacy to purchase weaponry and supplies from Britain.

Until the very end, it was the hope of the Confederacy that European powers would become involved in the conflict, just as they had during the American war of Independence against Britain itself nearly a century earlier. As the tide turned against the South, and it became clear that they would lose the war, Southern diplomacy tried in vain to coaxe Britain especially into the conflict, but Britain was growing cold to the Confederacy.

The economic benefits of trading with the Confederacy were increasingly negligible, particularly with the effective blockade in place, and with the North experiencing an industrial and economic boom brought on by expansion to meet the needs of the war, Britain naturally gravitated in its support to the North.

In the end, supporting the Confederacy just wasn't a good enough bargain for Britain.

Answer 2

The United States of America ("The Union") held secession illegal and refused recognition of the Confederacy. Although British commercial interests sold it warships and operated blockade runners to help supply it, no European powers officially recognized the CSA. Thus, by the definition of a sovereign state, as defined in international relations, the CSA was never an independent country (e.g. one of the requirements to be considered a sovereign state is to have the recognition of other states).

Answer 3

Last question first; no it wasn't official recognition. Britain went out of it's way to avoid officially recognising the Confederacy, though the "attractiveness" of a divided United States was well appreciated in Britain.

Belligerent status was simply a device to allow Britain to contiue to buy southern cotton. I think (and this is off the top of my head) that something like 85% of all southern cotton in the years leading up to the war went to Britain and France. We needed that cotton to keep our factories running and our workers employed. Not so much recognition of the south, much more good economic sense!

Answer 4

I don't think so because they will agree to trade with anyone doesn't make them against the other side.

Answer 5

no....once they gave the country to the people...after doing all the hard work....it became the peoples problem......to sort out...........seamanab.x...........i dont need half a page to sort than one out