The Trent Affair Essay

The Trent Affair, which was an international diplomatic incident, began during the early years of the civil war. The affair challenged traditional concepts of the freedom of the seas and the rights of neutrals. Another event that almost precipitated from this was a war between the United States and Great Britain. In the early 1860’s the confederacy appointed two envoys to represent its government in Europe. The two men that were James Mason and John Slidell. The two men made their way to Havana, Cuba, where they joined an English ship named Trent, which had set sail on Nov. 7. The day after the Trent set sail for Paris, the Trent was intercepted by a union warship the San Jacinto, which was under the command of Captain Charles Wilkens, an officer of the

Wilkens was praised by many Northerners and several members of President Lincoln’s cabinet for his action on the confederacy. Though his disregard to the men’s rights as a neutral power enraged the English. His error was that he conducted the search himself instead of having the ship port and undergo legal action to determine if England had violated the neutrality. Se when Wilkens had not taken the proper procedure, he was not allowed to remove any cargo, human or otherwise, from the vessel. Tempers rose in England and war threats were announced. England demanded for a public apology and the release of the two confederate envoys. The representative of England awaited for the order to return home if the demands were not met. However, in England, the impending death of Prince Albert took attention away from the Trent affair. As the English demands reached the states, the U.S. diplomat to England, was ordered to explain that Wilkens acted on his own authority, without government orders. Meanwhile, the Secretary of State studied the issue carefully, he knew that Wilkens had not followed the correct