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Wartime Politics. Confederacy Seeks British Aide. Britain Remains Neutral Britain had new sources of cotton in Egypt & India Wheat crop had failed, needed Northern corn and wheat more than Southern cotton Trent Affair British ship carrying two Confederate diplomats intercepted by Union ship
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Confederacy Seeks British Aide • Britain Remains Neutral • Britain had new sources of cotton in Egypt & India • Wheat crop had failed, needed Northern corn and wheat more than Southern cotton • Trent Affair • British ship carrying two Confederate diplomats intercepted by Union ship • Britain sent 8,000 troops to Canada • Lincoln frees the two men
Lincoln and Slavery • Though personally opposed, the war was about preserving the Union, not slavery • Emancipation of slaves began as a practice similar to seizing Confederate supplies during wartime • Britain was opposed to slavery – emancipation would discourage Britain from supporting the Confederacy
Emancipation Proclamation • Issued on January 1, 1863 • Though it freed slaves, only applied to those behind Confederate lines • Was a military action to weaken the South • Did not free slaves in lands under Union control or in slave states that had not seceded
Effects of the Proclamation • Little practical effect, huge symbolic importance • Gave the war a high moral importance • Free blacks able to join Union army • Confederacy realized compromise was no longer an option – win or lose way of life • Immigrants in the North fear freed slaves will compete for jobs
