| July 15 |  |
Editor says, what if the Confederacy ceded California to Great Britain? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1861, the Parliament of Great Britain passed by a majority of twenty three a bill that committed Britain to war for the Confederacy in exchange for the transfer of California to the British Empire.
The Scrooge Contribution Part 2Though he lacked a majority, Benjamin Disraeli was pleased with the response he had received from the House. "By bowing and doffing our hats to our paymaster," Disraeli lectured, "we have shown that we favor cash over any moral priciple, assuming we even recall what a moral principle may be".
"Caliifornia is a pleasent end, a good outcome that might be arged to justify many things. But the attachment of California to an act of reenslavement upon four millions of Negroes in the South can never justify that cruelty, that terror!"
That evening, Disraeli was the host of Ebenezer Scrooge, who had gone privately to the chambers of the Opposition Leader to his plan. "You know that Lincoln does not count emancipation as a war aim. Lincoln's repeated call is for Southerners to submit to his authority and if that happens, he will befriend them slavery and all".
"Mr.Lincoln's failure to embrace emancipation as an outcome of this war proves he lacks imagination and spirit,"" agreed Disraeli. "The important thing is that he has never conceded that his adversaries are right in any of their behaviors, and, through his silence, he reserves the right to call on better principles to rally men in the future.
With the news of Parliament's decision speeding around the world, Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Milne, commander of the North American, West Indies Squadron, took some housecleaning measures. The first step was to eliminate those Union ships on blockade assignment before such ships could retire to safety.
The USS _Hartford_ was scuttled after a fierce battle between the New Orleans blockading detachment and a squadron of the Royal Navy commanded by Commodore Dunlop. Persistant to his death, American David G. Farragut died in that Battle of New Orleans when he blew up a ship entangled in a fight.
The US ship _Kearsarge_ encountered three British vessels near Ireland and left all of them ransacked and on fire in July and August 1861. That ship was sunk by the _Warrior_ on August 6 and ts crew taken into captivity.
On November 8, 1861, the American warship _San Jacinto_ boarded the British mail ship _Trent_ and captured two Confederate diplomats who were passengers on that ship. The _San Jacinto_, at speed, evaded the British Navy and made port at Boston, where their exploit was some consolation given the news of the British blockade.
Entry posted by
Raymond Speer
© Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens (1843)Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Pacific and Dixie Source: Wikipedia Labels: Ebeneezer Scrooge, Charles Dickens, Jefferson Davis, Confederacy, Civil War. Editor says, this is the second Journal Entry of the "Pacific & Dixie" series.
~ Lincoln couldn't embrace emancipation without losing Kentucky, which he _had to_ have..."I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky," he remarked. And I do think that the British sticking their noses into the US Civil War would have been just the catalyst needed to rally a lot of doubtful people in the US to the colors (i.e., no Draft Riots---the rioters were largely drawn from the people who'd come over to get away from the Potato Famine, for which the UK was blamed) and Canada would have been gobbled up in two shakes.
~ I see Irish americans in the south going over to the Union along with a lot of ordinary southerners deciding Jeff Davis and his crowd being the new Benedict Arnolds. Canada quickly falling to invading northern forces while the new Monitor wreaks havok with English and Confederate wooden ships. France undoubtedly will join the Anglo-Confiderate alliance along with their newly created Belgium but Holland, Russia, Prussia and many German states coming in on the side of the American North with Italy coming in eventually. Northern corsairs wreak havoc along Britain's shipping lanes. And in Britain a lot of anti-war movement motived by economic interests and the anti-slavery society among others. Parliament gets changed massively in the next election and Disraili finds himself looking for a new job. British army suffers massive casualties in fighting with Northern armies.
~ What am I missing here? When did California become Richmond's to trade away?
~ Politicians are very good at giving away what belongs to other people to further theri own ends. I can see the slave owning elite of the south promising away what does not belong to them. I also see Loncoln exploiting that move to stir up the masses throughout the United States both North and South to act against them and their new patrons overseas.
Comment from Andrew Beane on Facebook: wow now that's an intriguing possibility!
~ Roosevelt and Churchill did the same thing with WWII. When Hitler invaded Russia, they happily embraced the monster Stalin even though they were very well informed of his crimes. They even knew of Katyn. They even tried to force neutral Ireland into the conflict on the allied side even after the tide of war turned. History is the record of Human Nature in action. Not once has a war been ended by peaceful means. There is no 'Can't We Just Get Along?' ending to conflicts in history. During the French and Indian war a Peaceful approach was tried by Pacifist Pennsylvania, the result being a major slaughter of settlers by the French and their Native American Allies. The shawnee eventually did seek a peaceful settlement but only after Smallpox and Colonial American attacks decimated their population. When France, during that same war, found itself on the losing end the French solution was to draw in Spain to try fighting on their side for which the Spaniards suffered dearly. If European countries were to intervene for their own ends into the American COnflict then Escalation results with expanding of the conflict. France and Britain had enemies. Why should they not seize the opportunity to strike when they turn on the US? Especially since they can make their actions into a Crusade agaisnt the vile institution of Slavery to justify their actions. Prussia wanted a United Germany under Berlin. Holland wanted Belgium back with Dutch nationalists on both sides of the created border desiring reunification. The Irish wanted Indepndence. Russia wanted revenge for what they suffered in the Crimea. Italy wanted the Piedmnot Savoy returned. Radicals everywhere wanted the status quo changed.
~ We need only look to post Victorian Europe where one act of terorism in the Balkans ultimately lead to world war one to see where these things lead.
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© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
