Blockade!

[Jim Klag]

May 28, 1861 - Federal Naval blockade is established on Savannah, GA, by the USS Union.

Blockade!

An article describing the Union blockade of Southern ports during the Civil War

www.battlefields.org

 

[diane]

Lincoln had no choice but to put up a blockade - which was counter to his contention he was dealing with a simple insurrection rather than a real war. British shipyards and merchants found the resulting conundrum valuable for cloaking considerable aid to the rebellious states. (We have Tom Dudley and James Bulloch playing spy vs spy all over Liverpool!) Lincoln could never call it a war because that would mean he recognized there was such an entity as the CSA. But it damaged Britain's economy, and not by accident. Do you suppose the blockade caused a cold war between the US and Britain?

 

[5fish]

Yes, Lincoln's blockade of the Confederacy in legal terms recognized the Confederacy as a Nation state. I see how history ignores the following for the Confederate States of America was a nation-state...

But the blockade was a different matter, primarily because of its implications for possible recognition of the Confederacy as a nation. The international community respected blockades when they featured two or more nations at war. But the Union did not want to concede that this was a war instead of a rebellion.

In his Memoirs of Service Afloat, Raphael Semmes contended that the announcement of a blockade carried de facto recognition of the Confederate States of America as an independent national entity since countries do not blockade their own ports but rather close them (See Boston Port Act).[2] Under international law and maritime law, however, nations had the right to stop and search neutral ships in international waters if they were suspected of violating a blockade, something port closures would not allow. In an effort to avoid conflict between the United States and Britain over the searching of British merchant vessels thought to be trading with the Confederacy, the Union needed the privileges of international law that came with the declaration of a blockade.
Lincoln did open the door... If you can get loans your a nation-state

However, by effectively declaring the Confederate States of America to be belligerents—rather than insurrectionists, who under international law were not eligible for recognition by foreign powers—Lincoln opened the way for Britain and France to recognize the Confederacy. Britain's proclamation of neutrality was consistent with the Lincoln Administration's position—that under international law the Confederates were belligerents—and helped legitimize the Confederate States of America's national right to obtain loans and buy arms from neutral nations. The British proclamation also formally gave Britain the diplomatic right to discuss openly which side, if any, to support.[3]

Lincoln used the word blockade in his Proclamation blockading the Southern ports.

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, with a view to the same purposes before mentioned, and to the protection of the public peace, and the lives and property of quiet and orderly citizens pursuing their lawful occupations, until Congress shall have assembled and deliberated on the said unlawful proceedings, or until the same shall ceased, have further deemed it advisable to set on foot a blockade of the ports within the States aforesaid, in pursuance of the laws of the United States, and of the law of Nations, in such case provided. For this purpose a competent force will be posted so as to prevent entrance and exit of vessels from the ports aforesaid. If, therefore, with a view to violate such blockade, a vessel shall approach, or shall attempt to leave either of the said ports, she will be duly warned by the Commander of one of the blockading vessels, who will endorse on her register the fact and date of such warning, and if the same vessel shall again attempt to enter or leave the blockaded port, she will be captured and sent to the nearest convenient port, for such proceedings against her and her cargo as prize, as may be deemed advisable.

The Confederacy was a nation-state even under international laws... The evidence is clear...

 

[Jim Klag]

The Confederacy was a nation-state even under international laws... The evidence is clear...

If that was true, where was the international recognition? There is precisely zero evidence that the rebels had created a state. At no point in their own territory did they have any authority without the presence of their army. The individual states deliberately maintained individual "sovereignty" and kept arms and troops and provisions for themselves. The southern rebels had no judiciary. There was no national police force or any police force that recognized the authority of the Richmond government other than military police. The southern rebels had their cities and territory occupied with impunity by Federal forces even early in the war. Major cities and towns like New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville, Norfolk/Newport News were all in Federal hands before the end of 1862. A true indicator of southern politico/military weakness was the fact that large numbers of men were exempted from military service out of fear of a slave insurrection. Lost Causers and neo-Confederates have been claiming nationhood for a mob of rebels for 150 years. Groups of people whose political entity is as weak as I have demonstrated cannot claim nationhood just because the Federal government blockaded ports in it's own territory. Davis and his cronies knew this or he wouldn't have tried so hard to get foreign recognition. Remember Lincoln said "It is all our territory." He refused even to call the southerners anything other than rebels.

 

[diane]

The fact that Lincoln did not recognize the Confederacy but insisted they were only an internal rebellion kept Britain or France from recognizing them. Palmerston was playing a delicate hand - the textile industries in the north of England were in a world of hurt since they could not get cotton. (It took a while to find alternates to Southern cotton.) Liverpool shipyards happily co-operated with the CSA's redoubtable Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory, who was determined to conjure up a rebel navy if he had to build it himself. Thomas Dudley was a subordinate of Charles Adams, the American ambassador to Britain, and also a master spy for Lincoln. He was tasked with keeping Lincoln abreast of what Mallory's operatives were up to. James Bulloch was Jefferson Davis' 007, and a good one at that. (His brother was Irvin Bulloch, navigator of the CSS Shenandoah.) Filching the ship that became the CSS Alabama, the best of all the Confederate raiders, was the stuff of Hollywood. Dudley was literally running along the side of the dock yelling at British authorities to 'stop that ship!' as Bulloch sailed it out of Liverpool. The final straw, though, was the very lethal Laird rams. Adams was able to tell Palmerston that he knew about these high-tech rams and if they 'somehow' fell into the hands of the rebels it would mean war. The Laird rams were Mallory's pets - they would have made a major difference in the effectiveness of the Union blockade.

 

[Joshism]

I'm confused why you're not supposed to legally blockade a rebellion. Why shouldn't you be able to impose a blockade to cut off potential arms shipments to a rebellion you're fighting against?

 

[diane]

I'm confused why you're not supposed to legally blockade a rebellion. Why shouldn't you be able to impose a blockade to cut off potential arms shipments to a rebellion you're fighting against?

I agree! It seems to me the fine line is in what the international view is - the president may say there is no war only insurrection, but a blockade gives foreign countries a reason to name belligerents and act accordingly.

The blockade did more than close off Southern ports (of which there were not many) or hinder international trade with sympathizers in Britain, France, Australia and elsewhere. As I see it, the main reason to blockade was to prevent internal Confederate sympathizers and/or fellow ideological travellers from supporting the rebellion. This was why control of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers and the battle of Ft Donelson was so important - it cut the Confederacy off from receiving weapons and other supplies from the Butternut region in southern Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. There were supporters in New York, Delaware, and in western states and territories, in particular California.

 

[Kirk's Raider's]

Lincoln had no choice but to put up a blockade - which was counter to his contention he was dealing with a simple insurrection rather than a real war. British shipyards and merchants found the resulting conundrum valuable for cloaking considerable aid to the rebellious states. (We have Tom Dudley and James Bulloch playing spy vs spy all over Liverpool!) Lincoln could never call it a war because that would mean he recognized there was such an entity as the CSA. But it damaged Britain's economy, and not by accident. Do you suppose the blockade caused a cold war between the US and Britain?

Not really as the UK happily supplied small arms and parts to the Union. The UK dramatically increased their grain exports to the Union and allowed the Union to recruit soldiers on British soil.
Kirk's Raiders

 

[Kirk's Raider's]

Yes, Lincoln's blockade of the Confederacy in legal terms recognized the Confederacy as a Nation state. I see how history ignores the following for the Confederate States of America was a nation-state...

But the blockade was a different matter, primarily because of its implications for possible recognition of the Confederacy as a nation. The international community respected blockades when they featured two or more nations at war. But the Union did not want to concede that this was a war instead of a rebellion.

In his Memoirs of Service Afloat, Raphael Semmes contended that the announcement of a blockade carried de facto recognition of the Confederate States of America as an independent national entity since countries do not blockade their own ports but rather close them (See Boston Port Act).[2] Under international law and maritime law, however, nations had the right to stop and search neutral ships in international waters if they were suspected of violating a blockade, something port closures would not allow. In an effort to avoid conflict between the United States and Britain over the searching of British merchant vessels thought to be trading with the Confederacy, the Union needed the privileges of international law that came with the declaration of a blockade.
Lincoln did open the door... If you can get loans your a nation-state

However, by effectively declaring the Confederate States of America to be belligerents—rather than insurrectionists, who under international law were not eligible for recognition by foreign powers—Lincoln opened the way for Britain and France to recognize the Confederacy. Britain's proclamation of neutrality was consistent with the Lincoln Administration's position—that under international law the Confederates were belligerents—and helped legitimize the Confederate States of America's national right to obtain loans and buy arms from neutral nations. The British proclamation also formally gave Britain the diplomatic right to discuss openly which side, if any, to support.[3]

Lincoln used the word blockade in his Proclamation blockading the Southern ports.

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, with a view to the same purposes before mentioned, and to the protection of the public peace, and the lives and property of quiet and orderly citizens pursuing their lawful occupations, until Congress shall have assembled and deliberated on the said unlawful proceedings, or until the same shall ceased, have further deemed it advisable to set on foot a blockade of the ports within the States aforesaid, in pursuance of the laws of the United States, and of the law of Nations, in such case provided. For this purpose a competent force will be posted so as to prevent entrance and exit of vessels from the ports aforesaid. If, therefore, with a view to violate such blockade, a vessel shall approach, or shall attempt to leave either of the said ports, she will be duly warned by the Commander of one of the blockading vessels, who will endorse on her register the fact and date of such warning, and if the same vessel shall again attempt to enter or leave the blockaded port, she will be captured and sent to the nearest convenient port, for such proceedings against her and her cargo as prize, as may be deemed advisable.

The Confederacy was a nation-state even under international laws... The evidence is clear...

The Confederacy was never recognized by any nation. Rebel groups constantly buy arms from other governments. The US gave weapons to the Contras of Nicaragua and still maintained diplomatic recognition of Nicaragua. Communist China and Poland sold weapons to the US Govt and both nations still had embassies in Nicaragua so even diplomatic recognition means only so much.
Kirk's Raiders

 

[Kirk's Raider's]

Lincoln had no choice but to put up a blockade - which was counter to his contention he was dealing with a simple insurrection rather than a real war. British shipyards and merchants found the resulting conundrum valuable for cloaking considerable aid to the rebellious states. (We have Tom Dudley and James Bulloch playing spy vs spy all over Liverpool!) Lincoln could never call it a war because that would mean he recognized there was such an entity as the CSA. But it damaged Britain's economy, and not by accident. Do you suppose the blockade caused a cold war between the US and Britain?

A good statistic about the Blockade is less then ten percent of the cotton crop of the Confederacy was exported and approximately ten percent of those exports were confiscated by the USN. The source is from a book on the forum who's name will not be mentioned.
Kirk's Raiders

 

[O' Be Joyful]

Communist China and Poland sold weapons to the US Govt and both nations still had embassies in Nicaragua so even diplomatic recognition means only so much.

Diplomatically, that is the equivalent of "turn your head and cough."

 

[Kirk's Raider's]

Diplomatically, that is the equivalent of "turn your head and cough."

Romania recognized the PLO but bought weapons that the Israelis captured from the PLO in Lebanon . More important then diplomatic recognition is actual military and financial aid.
Kirk's Raiders

 

[diane]

Not really as the UK happily supplied small arms and parts to the Union. The UK dramatically increased their grain exports to the Union and allowed the Union to recruit soldiers on British soil.
Kirk's Raiders

That may well be. Then we get into King Cotton - another theory the Confederacy died of. Nearly all the exports of cotton stopped - not because of the Union blockade but because the planters wanted to get Britain off the fence and onto their side. It dramatically hurt the textile workers in the north of England, Lancashire - they already had a surplus of cotton because of the big boom about two years before hostilities broke out, so the bottom fell out of the market. The planters were living in a bubble of their own creation - the times they were a-changing and they were used to controlling everything...except inevitable change.

 

[Kirk's Raider's]

That may well be. Then we get into King Cotton - another theory the Confederacy died of. Nearly all the exports of cotton stopped - not because of the Union blockade but because the planters wanted to get Britain off the fence and onto their side. It dramatically hurt the textile workers in the north of England, Lancashire - they already had a surplus of cotton because of the big boom about two years before hostilities broke out, so the bottom fell out of the market. The planters were living in a bubble of their own creation - the times they were a-changing and they were used to controlling everything...except inevitable change.

Actually there were major textile layoffs in the UK, France and Russian occupied Poland. Cotton fetched a good price and the Union exported cotton from Union liberated Louisiana and the Seaward Island's of South Carolina.
Kirk's Raiders

 

[Joshism]

The source is from a book on the forum who's name will not be mentioned.

Shelby Foote?

 

[diane]

Shelby Foote?

I'm not sure he was the source but wouldn't be surprised! There was a healthy black market in cotton - that was how Grant stepped in it with his order expelling the Jews. He was actually aiming for his father and his Jewish partners but used a scatter gun and got everybody. It's also part of the reason Forrest was at Ft Pillow - Hurlbut was thought to be smuggling cotton although nothing was proven and he denied everything. But I believe most of that was for domestic markets not overseas. The blockade was not total, there were holes, but it was effective, especially with much needed things like medicines. There was the curious case of the travelling doll - she made more trips back and forth across the Atlantic than any ship. She had a hollow space inside her porcelain body to smuggle something, probably medicine for her owner...who was not a little girl! Many of the Confederate lady spies used their hoop skirts to smuggle a whole pharmacy - nobody dared frisk a lady, after all. (The Union finally started hiring women for just that purpose.) A lot of cavalry raids were for medical supplies, too.

 

[Kirk's Raider's]

Shelby Foote?

No much better I forget the book title. I can try to get it.

Kirk's Raiders

 

[Jim Klag]

Shelby Foote?

He meant the forum, not the book, shall not be mentioned.

 

[Kirk's Raider's]

Shelby Foote?
Also @jgoodguy

No but check this out " Through the blockade: The profitability and extent of cotton smuggling 1861-1865 " Stanley Lebergot 1981.
Of 6.8 million bales of cotton produced by the Confederacy during the ACW
500k bales were exported of which we can safely assume approximately ten percent were confiscated by the USN.
3.8 million bales were destroyed.
900k bales siezed, or sold to the Union
1.8 million bales sold post ACW.
Kirk's Raiders