The Alabama Claims were a series of claims for damages by the United States government

brought in 1869 against the British government as a result of ships, such as theAlabama, it built
that aided the Confederate cause in seizing American merchant ships during the American Civil
War.
After international arbitration endorsed the United States position in 1872, Britain settled the
matter by paying the United States $15.5 million for damages done by the Alabama and other
warships built in Britain and sold to the Confederacy. They ended the dispute and restored
friendly relations through an 1872 treaty with the US. Using international arbitration set a
precedent, and the case also aroused interest in codifying public international law.

The CSS Alabama

During the American Civil War, several warships were built in private shipyards in Britain that
were sold to the Confederacy. The U.S. embassy had strongly complained at the time but the
efforts of the British government to stop the sales failed. They were used as commerce raiders
(the most famous being the CSS Alabama) and did significant damage to the American merchant
marine fleet.

British political involvement

The British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston and Foreign Secretary Lord John Russell had
allowed the Alabama to put to sea from the shipyards of John Laird Sons and
Company inBirkenhead. The United States Legation in London had explicitly opposed this, and
the American Minister to Britain, Charles Francis Adams, charged that the ship was bound for the
Confederacy, where it would be used against the Union.
Though both the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary were thought to favor the Confederacy 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, and Palmerston and Russell were later forced to admit that the ship
should not have been allowed to depart. The government had requested advice from the Lord
Chief Justice of England and Wales, who ruled that her release did not violate Britain's neutrality.
In the next year, Britain detained two ironclad warships constructed in Birkenhead and destined
for the Confederacy. As a result of the uproar over the Alabama, Palmerston instructed
the British Admiralty to tender an offer for the purchase of the ships. They had been bought by a
go-between, Monsieur Bravay of Paris (who had ordered their construction as intermediary for
Confederate principals).

The claims
In what was called the Alabama Claims, in 1869 the United States claimed direct and collateral
damage against Great Britain. In the particular case of the "Alabama", the United States claimed

that Britain had violated neutrality by allowing five warships to be constructed, especially
the "Alabama", knowing that it would eventually enter into naval service with the Confederacy.
Other particulars included the following: In the summer of 1862, the British-built steam
warship "Oreto", later renamed the "C.S.S. Florida", was delivered to Nassau in
the Bahamaswith the secret understanding that it would be later transferred to the Confederate
States Navy. British Royal Navy Admiral George Willes Watson (1827-1897) aided the transfer,
and Watson's actions were reviewed by the tribunal.[1]
Other warships included the "C.S.S. Shenandoah" and two others.

Payment
Senator Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, originally wanted to ask for $2 billion in damages, or alternatively, the ceding
of Canada to the United States. When American Secretary of State William H.
Seward negotiated the Alaska Purchase in 1867, he intended it as the first step in a
comprehensive plan to gain control of the entire northwest Pacific Coast. Seward was a firm
believer in "Manifest Destiny", primarily for its commercial advantages to the United States.
Seward expected the West Coast Province of British Columbia to seek annexation to the United
States and thought Britain might accept this in exchange for the Alabamaclaims. Soon other U.S.
politicians endorsed annexation, with the goal of annexing British Columbia, the central
Canadian Red River Colony (later Manitoba), and eastern Nova Scotia, in exchange for dropping
the damage claims.
The idea reached a peak in the spring and summer of 1870, with American expansionists,
Canadian separatists, and British anti-imperialists seemingly combining forces. The plan was
dropped for multiple reasons. London continued to stall, American commercial and financial
groups pressed Washington for a quick settlement of the dispute on a cash basis, growing
Canadian nationalist sentiment in British Columbia called for staying inside the British Empire,
Congress became preoccupied with Reconstruction needs, and most Americans showed little
interest in territorial expansion after the long years, expenses and losses of the Civil War.[2][3]

Treaty of Washington
Further information: Treaty of Washington (1871), Hamilton Fish and Presidency of Ulysses S.
Grant
In 1871, President Ulysses S. Grant's appointed Secretary of State Hamilton Fish, worked out an
agreement with British representative Sir John Rose in Washington to create a commission
consisting of six members from the British Empire and six members from the United States. Its
assignment was to resolve the Alabama claims, refinancing, and other international disputes
between Canada and the United States by treaty.[4] On March 8, 1871 the Treaty of
Washington was signed at the State Department and the U.S. Senate ratified the treaty on May
24, 1871.[5] According to the treaty, an international arbitration tribunal met in Geneva. The treaty
included the settlement process for the Alabama Claims, settled disputed Atlantic fisheries and
the San Juan Boundary (concerning the Oregon boundary line). Britain and the United States

became perpetual allies after the treaty, with Britain having expressed regret over
the Alabama damages.[6]

The tribunal
The tribunal was composed of representatives:

Britain: Sir Alexander Cockburn

United States: Charles Francis Adams, with William Maxwell Evarts serving as counsel[7]

Italy: Federico Sclopis

Switzerland: Jakob Stmpfli

Brazil: Marcos Antnio de Arajo, 2nd Baron of Itajub.

Negotiations had taken place in Suitland, Maryland, at the estate of businessman Samuel Taylor
Suit estate. The tribunal session was held in a reception room of the Town Hall
inGeneva, Switzerland. This has been named salle de l'Alabama.
The final award of $15,500,000 formed part of the Treaty of Washington and was paid out by
Britain in 1872.

Legacy
This established the principle of international arbitration, and launched a movement to
codify public international law with hopes for finding peaceful solutions to international disputes.
The arbitration of the Alabama claims was a precursor to the Hague Convention, the League of
Nations, the World Court, and the United Nations.[8]