Sumner, Charles.

Two Pamphlets: “Our Claims on England” Speech of Hon. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts delivered in executive session of the Senate, April 13, 1869 on The Johnson-Clarendon Treaty for the Settlement of Claims / AND: Speech of Hon. Charles Sumner on the Johnson-Clarendon Treaty for the Settlement of Claims delivered in the U.S.Senate. With an Appendix.

Washington/Boston, Rives & Bailey/Wright & Potter, 1869/1870. 8°. 14, 69 pages. Softcover. Original Pamphlets. The original speech of 1869 waterstained and with some tears and chips (unopened). The later printing with appendix: Original printed wrappers. Very good plus condition with some dogears and a small tear to front cover.

We offer here the original pamphlet of the speech and the later published speech with an appendix (additional speeches on the matter, thoughts on Canada as payment)
The “Alabama Claims”: The United States claimed direct and collateral damage against Britain, the so-called Alabama Claims. United States Senator Charles Sumner originally requested $2 billion, or alternatively the ceding of Canada to the United States.
The Alabama Claims were a series of claims for damages by the United States government against the government of the United Kingdom for the perceived covert assistance given to the Confederate cause during the American Civil War.
During the American Civil War, Confederate commerce raiders (the most famous being the CSS Alabama) were built in Britain and did significant damage to the Union Navy and merchant marine.
In the particular case of the Alabama the United States claimed that the United Kingdom had violated neutrality by allowing the Alabama to be constructed, knowing that it would enter into service with the Confederacy.
The British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston, and Foreign Secretary Earl Russell had allowed the Alabama to put to sea from the shipyards of John Laird Sons and Company in Birkenhead despite the explicit objections of the American Legation in London, and charges from the American Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams that the ship was bound for the Confederacy. Though both the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary were thought to favor the Confederacy slightly at the time of Alabama’s construction this position was against British public opinion and MPs such as Richard Cobden campaigned against it. The subsequent release of the Alabama proved to be publicly embarrassing when both were later forced to admit that the ship should not have been allowed to depart, despite the opinion of the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales that her release did not violate neutrality.
Even so, the next year two ironclad warships under construction in Birkenhead and bound for the Confederacy were detained after their completion but before their launch. As a direct consequence of the flap over the Alabama rather than turn the ships over to Monsieur Bravay of Paris, who had ordered their construction as intermediary for Confederate principals, Palmerston instructed the British Admiralty to tender an offer for the purchase of the ships.
(Wikipedia)

• Keywords: 19.Jahrhundert · 19th Century · 19th Century – Rare · American Civil War · American Civil War Pamphlets · American History · American History – Rare · Collection American History Rare · Pamphlets
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 23024AB

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