international pressure Flashcards
(5 cards)
topic sentence
Some historians such as Susan Mary Grant argue that international pressure was the most important reason for forcing Lincoln into passing the Emancipation Proclamation.
evidence 1 - slave trade
Many Brits saw the continuation of slavery problematic; the Slave trade was abolished in Britain on 25th March 1807 showing that they had come to the realisation of the inhumane nature of enslaving people long before the American Civil war. As a result, Lincoln was becoming increasingly aware that he was going to have to take a firm stance against Slavery to maintain support from Britain and prevent them from offering any support from the Confederacy. If he was to add the destruction of slaver into Union war aims, it would add a moral dimension to the war and make it almost impossible for other nations to offer support to the Confederacy.
evidence 2 - southern economy
Additionally, if Lincoln was to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, the Southern economy, and thus their relations with foreign powers, would collapse. Up until the 1860s, the Southern economy was completely based on a system of slavery, the South led the world cotton exports, being responsible for two thirds of the world’s cotton supply. Emancipation of slaves would mean the end to this fast-paced production, which was vital to maintaining the Southern economy and Lincoln was well aware of this. He believed that issuing the Emancipation Proclamation would weaken Southern war effort as it would prevent them from accessing support from foreign powers and therefore felt complied to act on the issue.
counter analysis
However, Grant argues, Britain was more inclined to support the Union – from a distance, which suggests
that Britain was more dependent on the Union to run their industries during the war, indeed, the Union made up ½ of British grain imports between 1861 and 1862. This weakens the argument that international pressure was the most significant reason for Lincoln passing the Emancipation Proclamation, as the Union was at an advantage to the Confederacy when it came to foreign trade.
evaluation
To evaluate, international pressure is an important factor to consider as to why Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation, however not the most significant. Therefore, Grant argues “Slavery was a barrier to the recognition of the Confederacy that the South craved”, which suggests that Lincoln was not pressured into acting on emancipation through international pressure because he was not threatened by foreign relationships with the Confederacy as slavery destroyed these.
