44 Chapter 2
Union-British relations and, eventually, lead to British intervention in the Civil War
on behalf of the Confederacy. However, the Union government soon realized how
catastrophic of a blunder that Captain Wilkes may have made. His boarding of the
Trent was tantamount to an act of piracy on the high seas since it involved the deten-
tion of a neutral vessel.
Recognizing the dubious justification for the seizure, as well as the potentially
catastrophic ramifications of it, Lincoln’s government capitulated to British
demands to release the two diplomats. The British protested and a demand was
presented on December 19 to US Secretary of State Seward. Seward gave a formal
reply to the British minister in Washington on December 27, agreeing to British
demands, and the diplomats were released in January, with news reaching Britain
on January 8.
Coding changes: End Date changed from December 26, 1861.
MID#1637
Started in January 1881. See the narrative in the 101 Venezuela/200 United Kingdom dyad
dispute list.
2 United States of America/220 France
MID#301
Dispute Number: 301
Date(s): November 1835 to February 15, 1836
Participants: 220 France/2 United States of America
Outcome (and Settlement): Yield by side A (Negotiated)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: The United States sought damages for several American merchant ships
seized by the French during the French Revolution, finally receiving satisfaction in 1831
when the French formally agreed to an indemnity of 25 million francs to be paid in six
annual installments. The first payment was due in March 1833 and, when the US secre-
tary of the treasury sought the payment from the French finance minister, he was turned
back. The French Chambers had not appropriated the necessary funds and, in April
1834, it formally refused to appropriate the funds. President Andrew Jackson, outraged,
made a controversial speech before Congress on the matter, publicly stating, “I know
them French... they won’t pay unless they’re made to.” He concluded before Congress
that, if the overdue payments were not authorized in the next session of the French
Chambers, the United States should seize French property and hold it as collateral.
Jacksonian Democrats rallied behind the cause, but the Whigs in Congress bit-
terly opposed the proposition as “legalized piracy.” The French took the speech as an
affront to national honor and demanded explanation. The French minister withdrew
from Washington, leaving the duties to a charge. Jackson refused an apology and drew
wide public support. A crisis followed. The charge soon withdrew to France as well,
taking his wife (a daughter of a close personal friend of Jackson’s) and his son (named