The Trent Affair Essay

The Civil War that occurred was one of the darkest times in our history as a country. It was a time where there was a complete breakdown of social and political systems. Hundreds of thousands were killed and hundreds of thousands more were aversely affected. However, it was also a time of remembrance and significant moral progress. It is remembered as the turning point in American History and would be the foundation for the Civil Rights movement many years later.

On June 1. 1812, President James Madison submitted a war message to the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States. This message Madison submitted describes how the British have been violating the American flag. It also in tells how the British violated neutrality rights in United States. The Americans also complained of dealing with British ships in American waters. The Americans were angry of the seizure of the American sailors to join the Royal Navy. Madison believed this war would help to protect American ships on the high seas. He believed it to stop the British from impressing United States sailors. President Madison also wanted to stop Britain from having alliances with the Native Americans. Madison hoped to increase the size of the United States by gaining control of Canada and Florida. Because Madison’s War Message did reflect the reality of what was happening between the British and the Americans. His message was approved for the United States to declare war against Great Britain.

In 1812, James Madison declared war on Britain. Many of the former presidents, including George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson had to deal with the issue with Britain. Britain was taking American ships, cargo, and often taking the crew into the British army. This practice was called “impressment”. When James Madison became president, he tried to avoid this issue with Britain with no such luck. James Madison wanted to try and have peace with Britain, however, they continued “impressing” American ships. On June 18, 1812 the war between America and Britain began.

The British government demanded to have an apology and release the prisoners while they took steps to strengthen its military forces in Canada and the Atlantic. President Abraham Lincoln and his top advisors didn’t want to risk war with Britain over this issue. After many tense weeks, the disaster was fixed when Lincoln’s administration released the envoys and refused Captain Wilkes’s actions without any kind of apology. Slidell and Mason continued their voyage to Britain, but it failed in their goal of achieving diplomatic recognition. After the Trent Affair, distributed a serious blow to the Confederate diplomatic efforts. First, is was deflected the recognition of strength developed during the summer and in the fall of the year of 1861. It was created a feeling in the Great Britain that the United States was prepared to defend itself when it was necessary, but it recognized its responsibility to fulfill with international law. Furthermore, it composed a feeling in Great Britain and in France that peace could be preserved as long as the Europeans kept a strict neutrality in regards to the American belligerents. The issues of the diplomatic recognition of the Confederacy, but,

The Civil War is known as a turning point in America, the road to ending slavery, while first turning a nation against each other.

The Prime Minister at the time even felt sympathetic but did not take any actions in fear of public anger. Napoleon the 3rd of France also felt sympathetic towards the Confederacy but Napoleon's Chief goal during the American civil

I found out that on november 18,1861 james mason and john Slidell sailed from 1781,1871 and while they were sailing they were intercepted by the USS San Jacinto.I found out that Jefferson Davis the President of the confederate states of America had despatched two envoys the british captured the envoys.and on 1861 they were captured by the U.S,great britain accused the united states for violating the british neutrality wich resulted to the civil war. In October 1861 mason and Slidell slipped through U.S navel blockade and left Charleston,south carolina to go to cuba. The Trent affair involving the civil war doctrine of freedom wich led to the war between the U.S

In November of 1861, the Confederate president, Jefferson Davis, sent two Confederate envoys, James Mason and John Slidell on a mission. They were sailing to England and France, on a British ship named Trent. They were traveling to Great Britain to get support for the southern states in the Civil War. At that time, the British had been neutral in the Civil War issues in the United States. The crisis started when a union captain of the USS San Jacinto, named Charles Wilkes, captured and arrested Mason and Slidell. These prisoners were sent to a prison called Fort Warren. This made the British government angry because it was a violation of international law to board and search a ship without permission. The British sent a messages to

The issue with compromise is that it must give each party the sense they have won something or at least not suffer a total loss. Why then, did the Compromises of 1820 and 1850 not prevent the Civil War? Because neither set of laws directly addressed the right to own slaves. A country cannot have two sets of laws for two different regions. As we have seen with segregation and gay rights, deferring to states’ laws only works to delay addressing the issue at hand. While no one can say the Civil War was solely caused by the divisive issue of slavery, it is safe to say the North and South were polarized. The Civil War had to happen to force the country to stop compromising and declare a winner and a single set of rules to live by.

The Trent was a British mail ship, and on the Trent there were two Confederate envoy's. On November 8, 1861, Charles Wilkes captured the two Confederate envoy's by the names of James Mason and John Slidell. After Charles Wilkes captured the two men from the Trent Great Britain accused the United States of violating British neutrality, And this incident created a diplomatic crisis between the two countries the United States and Great Britain During the civil war.

Their policy of allowing any paying customer aboard their ships had been broken. The British government quickly sent a message to the American government which ordered the release of the two envoys, Mason and Slidell, along with an apology over what had happened. Shortly after all of this, the British was preparing for war. They had originally had no side in the Civil War, but now they were making a move. They planned several blockades, attacks, and sent much needed war supplies to America and troops up to Canada. France even got in on this and said that they would support Britain during this rough

The missour compromise, north wanted the state to be free of slaves while south wanted it to be involved with slavery. Now in the end, it was decided that Maine was to be the free state and Missouri was given the ok to adopt a constitution having no restrictions on slavery. This compromise was the foundation of conflict for the north and south regarding slavery. The kansas-nebraska allowed each territory to make the decision on the issue of slavery. This compromie violated the first compromise, missouri. Because of this violence begin in many parts of America, and later became better known as the civil war. Third compromise was the nullification, power to nullify, or invalidate any federal law in which the state thinks it is unconstiutional.

Firstly, the Americans had just cause to declare war on British North America. The British had several different reasons why the Americans were tempted to and finally acted on declaring war on British North America. The American expansion was mainly obstructed by one reason. Indigenous leaders such as Tecumseh, were being supplied and cheered on by the British. Americans on the western frontier were not happy by this and demanded that interference was stopped.

As a raging crisis was emerging, moderates and unionists were attempting to create a great compromise that would settle such issues. On January 29, 1850, Henry Clay has written a compromise and presented it to the Senate. The document consisted of admitting California as a free-state, the formation of territorial governments, and the abolition of slavery. Instead of a peaceful settlement, the resolutions launched a raging debate for seven months. As time went by, there has been numerous of events and court cases that led to the Civil War. The Compromise of 1850 was just the beginning of a series of debates in regards to slavery.

The Trent Affair was an event which occurred during the Civil War, that threatened a war with Britain as well as the South. The Americans captured two Confederate diplomats from a British ship. The UK protested quite a bit until the diplomats were released. In 1861, the Union intercepted a letter that stated the Confederacy was sending two diplomats to France to negotiate financial and military aid in the Civil War. They were considered contraband of war, and were removed from the ship. Before they were released, British troops in Canada and the Atlantic increased, as did the threat of war. Abraham Lincoln didn’t want to there to be war between the European nation and the South, so he ordered the release of the men. The diplomats, however,