The History of the American civil war was best captured by Karl Max and Fredrick Engels in the London Newspapers. The events leading to the civil war were conclusively analyzed by Karl Max in the London newspapers such as The Economist. The Britons were on whether to support the Northern states or the confederate states. The England’s position in the American civil war was in support of free trade. In the Years leading to the Civil War, the Crown was in support of the North for advocating for the elimination of slavery in North America. Karl Max argues that the south was in error to claim that the founding fathers of the North American Union viewed slavery as a social ill that should have been eliminated in the founding of the Nation. Slavery was seen as an evil culture that was directly imported from England. In a bid to rescue itself from the blame, the initial years the Crown supported the abolition of the slavery. The English press began to debate on the appropriateness on the secession claims by the south. As Karl Marx reported, the press would posit one article in support of the Northern states and another in support of the southern states.
Marx argues that the first excuse of the war was the differences between the free trade and the protectionist system that was supported by the Northern states. Morril Tariff was passed in the congress after the secession of the confederate states had already taken place. The English press reported that the congress passed the tariff because the confederate states had already seceded and, therefore, the Union Congress passed and strengthened the protectionist system. As reported by the English press, the issue of succession was first discussed by the Secession Congress in the Montgomery. In the secession congress in came into the attention of the southern legislators that the Louisiana sugar was most affected by the tariffs that were imposed by the United States Congress.
Fredrick Engels and Karl Max argue that the problems on secession were raised by the Southern States in months that were leading to the 1860 Presidential elections. The Democratic Party was divided on whether the abolish slavery or not. The majority of the democrats especially from the south supported slavery, and it was the core of their campaign process. The Republican Party led by Abraham Lincoln completely objected the legalization of slavery and promised to abolish the institution on slavery once they were elected into office. The Southern states further argued that they would secede from the Union if Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election. Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election. His administration took measures that were made to avoid war with the southern states at all costs. A peace conference was organized to negotiate the differences between the two conflicting groups of the states. The peace conference failed miserably since the southern states undertook a point of view that was against the values and principles of the Northern population.
Meanwhile, the South undertook steps that would ensure the survival of their confederacy. They took the military bases that were formally occupied by the Union forces. The war was formally started by the southern states upon the attack of the Fort Sumter by the confederates. President Lincoln requested the Union states to contribute troops that would be used to defend Fort Sumter. With the approval of President Lincoln seventy-five thousand troops attacked the confederates to rescue Fort Sumter.
With the slogan that the southern states were the first to start a war the Union forces pounded the confederates from the Fort Sumter. The Union forces anticipated a situation where the British forces would intervene and help the Confederate against the Union forces. The British Naval supremacy was also expected to play out in the war. The southern states anticipated the same. They were planning to send an emissary to the United Kingdom in order to officially request for assistance from the British troops. The Union forces fully aware of the danger that would accompany such an action chose to stage a naval blockage in the southern states coastline. The presence of the navy along the stretch of five thousand coastlines was a great impediment to the southern states. As argued by Karl Max, the naval blockade caused the crippling of the Southern states.
The United States having been a colony of the British, the United States of America had adopted the British Admiral Law in the High seas. Admiral integrity required the seas of politically recognized sovereign entities not to be searched in the seas. During the Anglo-American war, the Great Britain violated the Admiral integrity in the seas. It searched all the ships belonging to the United States purporting that they were looking for Navy deserters. The US in return searched all the ships that were leaving and entering the United States making it impossible for the Southern emissaries to reach Britain. The American Ambassador to the Great Britain also announced that all the ships from American ports were not allowed to dock in British ports. In the same day, the British government stocks fell drastically in the Liverpool stock market. As Karl Max argued, it was evident that the British government was expecting to go into war with the United States of America and more specifically the Union forces. The Union navy scoured the coastline to ensure that there was no contraband in the British Ships. The Trent Case raised the level of aggression between the Great Britain and the Union forces. The English Press questioned the reason the Trent was ceased and also the existence of contraband in the ship. The ship was confiscated even though the British Monarch, Queen Victoria had issued a legal proclamation that the Great Britain was neutral in the American Civil war.
The feeling of the citizens of England hoped that the Federal Government under the leadership of President Abraham Lincoln would achieve an amicable solution with the Union Forces. The British lawyers argued that the actions of the Union forces were in a breach of the International law. The Federal government had captured the commissioners, the cargo as well of the passengers in the ship. As reported by Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels, in an article published in the Economist discussing the possibility of war with America, the press argued that they the expectation of the majority of the Citizens of the Great Britain was minimal harm in the war. Marx writes that they expected the least harm from the incidence with America. Others argued that at least they should receive compensations for the harm done in the case of Trent.
Meanwhile in the civil war, General Fremont argued that slaves were rebel free in the Southern States. The statement was later published in an article in Times, with Washington administration discussing the possibility of incorporating the slaves in a free labor in the market. The Secretary of War also discussed on the possibility of including the slaves in the Union forces. General Fix from the East Virginia confined all the fugitive slaves in military institutions and prisons to ensure that they will never be conscripted in the Union forces.
General Fremont discussed the possibility of the emancipation proclamation long before the president signed an executive order releasing the blacks from slavery. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed an executive order freeing all slaves in the Southern States. English Statesmen argued that the North should let the southern states go arguing that the southern states were not worth the struggle the Union forces were not going through. The southern States had more than six million slaves within its territories. It was apparent that the southern states were fighting to defend their economic bases. In the opinion of the English statesmen as posited by the British statesmen was that the withdrawal of the southern states from the Union would not amount to withdrawal of supremacy from the Union forces. The Union would remain militarily and economically superior to the confederate states. The British statesmen argued that the south is not a country but a battle slogan. President Lincoln dismissed General Fremont for posing as a threat to the presidency. Fredrick Engels and Karl Max argued that vital lessons such as not using volunteers in warfare should be learned since they would not have adequate time to train as soldiers.
Works Cited
Marx, Karl and Fredrich Engels. Writings on the American Civil War. New York: Marxist/ Engel Library, 2000.
