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1872, US/UK Arb., Alabama Claims- UK argument, Appendix, 1872 (Fr.)
Appendice au memoire présenté par le gouvernement de sa majesté britannique: n.a., Vol. 1-7 plus index volume, Paris, Imp. Nationale, 1872. (TOCs
follow the title page in each volume. All in French. Note that in the original memoire, published in London in 1871 {See LLMC Title No. 10098}, a plan
was announced for a 4-volume Appendix to be published later. The appendix as published in Paris in 1872 and offered here is laid out in a somewhat
different order than was predicted, and contains additional matter not anticipated in the memoire; most notably materials relative to the San Juan Boundary
question. The “Alabama Claims” were maritime grievances of the United States against Great Britain that accumulated during and after the American
Civil War. The phrase became shorthand for many claims by the U.S. against the British government for depredations against Union shipping worldwide by
the Confederate Navy with British assistance. The flagship grievance was the consent by the British Government to the release of the Alabama, a ship
built in England, to the Confederate Navy. That one ship wreaked havoc on U.S commerce; capturing, burning or sinking 68 U.S. merchant ships in 22
months. However, while the Alabama gave its name to the cause, other ships of British origin were involved. For example, the CSS Shanandoah was built in
Liverpool and transferred to the Confederacy in Madeira with the connivance of the Royal Navy. It went on to circumnavigate the globe. On the way six
Union merchantmen were burnt or sunk in the Indian Ocean. Later, over 20 ships of the Union whaling fleet, based from the neutral Kingdom of Hawaii,
were destroyed in the Bering Sea. The U.S. claimed direct and collateral damages for these composite wrongs under a pioneering application of nascent
international law. The country was angry and emotions were raw. Predictably Congress fulminated at “perfidious Albion.” Senator Charles Sumner’s
Senate Foreign Relations Committee called for an indemnity of $2 billion {ca. $32.3 billion in today’s money} and/or the cession of all of Canada. On
another front, in 1867 William Seward was negotiating the purchase of Alaska from Russia. The Secretary of State clearly hoped that this would be followed
by the annexation of British Columbia; thinking that the British Government might accede to that action in exchange for the settlement of the
“Alabama Claims.” The fervor against the British peaked in early 1870, with American expansionists, British anti-imperialists, and Canadian separatists
gleefully combining forces. However, enthusiasm soon drooped for several reasons. While London shrewdly stalled, Congress became preoccupied with
Reconstruction, and war-weary Americans lost interest in territorial expansion. Meanwhile, the U.S. commercial sector lobbied for a quick cash settlement,
and Canadian nationalists in British Columbia pushed for self-government within the Empire.. By 1871, with calmer heads prevailing, President Grant's
Secretary of State Hamilton Fish worked out a “grand bargain” with the British representative Sir John Rose. This stunning achievement resolved, in one
treaty, not only the Alabama claims, but also the refinancing of war debts, and the settlement of all outstanding territorial disputes over Canada
between Great Britain and the United States. The Treaty of Washington, signed on 8 March 1871, and ratified by the Senate on 24 May 1871, created an
international arbitration tribunal, giving it the power to adjudicate the “Alabama Claims.” The tribunal, which first met in Geneva for a short
planning session on 15-16 Dec. 1871, had members from: Brazil, Marcos Antonio de Arújo; Great Britain, Sir Alexander Cockburn; Italy, Federico Sclopis;
Switzerland, Jakob Stäphfli; and, for the United States, Charles Francis Adams; the latter having served as the American Minister to London during the war.
The tribunal’s formal sessions took place between 15 June and 29 August, 1872, in a reception room of the Town Hall in Geneva; thereafter named salle
de l'Alabama. The final award to the U.S. on 14 Sept. 1872 of $15,500,000 in gold (ca. $283.3-million in 2012 dollars) was paid out that same year;
with Great Britain moreover expressing “regret” for the Alabama and Florida actions. Besides resolving the “Alabama Claims,” the Treaty of
Washington settled disputed Atlantic fisheries and the San Juan Boundary; i.e., the boundary line for the Territory of Oregon, then including present-day
Washington State, and therefore the modern northwest boundary between the U.S. and Canada. With all major irritants between them thus amicably resolved,
Britain, the U.S., and fledgling Canada from thence became permanent allies. The settlement by arbitration of the “Alabama Claims” gave major validation
to international arbitration as a substitute for war, and launched a movement to codify public international law to foster peaceful solutions to
inter-nation disputes. It thus served as a precursor to the Hague Conventions, the League of Nations, and the Permanent Court of International Justice.)
Title:   Appendice au Mémoire présenté par le gouvernement de Sa Majesté britannique.
OCLC Number:   880969789
Available Volumes
NameFiche CountOnlinePaper Backup
Tome PremierYesNo
Tome DeuxiemeYesNo
Tome TroisiemeYesNo
Tome QuatriemeYesNo
Tome CinquiemeYesNo
Tome SixiemeYesNo
Tome SeptiemeYesNo
Index Des Sept VolumesYesNo