Blume, Kenneth John. "The Mid-Atlantic Arena: The United States, the Confederacy and the British West Indies, 1861-1865." PhD Thesis, State University of New York at Binghamton, 1984. 356 p.

E 480 B68 1984

Keywords: United States, Commerce, West Indies, Confederate States of America, Civil War.

Abstract

This dissertation employs the British West Indies as a prism through which to view the diplomatic history of the civil war and the history of nineteenth century American foreign relations. The British West Indies, in the "back yard" of the United States, fell within the orbit of American concerns. As British colonies they served as both a lightning rod for and a prototype of Anglo-American relations. The "old West India trade" had once been a mainstay of American commerce, so the islands evoked memories of past mercantile triumphs. Events in the British Caribbean during wartime, furthermore, highlight primary American foreign policy goals at mid-century, and developments that made the era a watershed of American foreign relations.

The British islands controlled lines of communication and trade between American Gulf ports and South America. The islands took only a small portion of American trade but were nevertheless among America's top ten trading partners at this point in the century. During the war, trade with islands declined somewhat, but the major change was that the percentage of the trade carried in American bottoms plunged. Many vessels switched to foreign registry to avoid sinking or capture by confederate warships. Some vessels switched to become blockade runners. Union clearance and bonding regulations drove other vessels away from American registry. In pursuit of military victory, the Federal government chose to sacrifice the merchant marine.

Union and Confederate vessels competed for coal in the British West Indies. Local enforcement of British regulations varied -- mostly to the advantage of Confederate vessels. The inaccessibility of coal struck at the North's ability to defend itself, an important lesson in the postwar years. Although Britain was officially neutral during the war, she took little interest in ensuring that her regulations were equitably enforced in the British West Indies. Confederate warships and blockade runners benefited, while the lack of restraint of some Union naval officers added to the disruption of transatlantic accord. Anglo-American relations were severely tested, yet Britain and the United States understood that peace was of paramount importance.

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