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Description and Holding Information
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1871, US/UK Arb., Alabama Claims- UK argument (Fr.)
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Mémoire présenté par le gouvernement de sa majesté britannique au tribunal d’arbitrage constitute en vertu de l’article du traité conclu à
Washington, le 8 Mai, 1871, entre sa majesté britannique et le états unis de l’amérique: n.a., (4)+321p, London, Harrison & Sons, n.d. (The memoire was formally
presented to the tribunal on 15 Dec. 1871. A TOC follows the title page. Lacks index. All in French. Note that on the same page as the TOC, a plan is
laid out for an anticipated 4-volume Appendix. The appendix as later published {See LLMC Title No. 10101}, is actually in 8 volumes. Also, it is
formatted somewhat differently than predicted and contains additional matter not described in the present text; 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.)
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Title:
Mémoire présenté par le gouvernement de Sa Majesté britannique au Tribunal d'arbitrage : constitué en vertu de l'article 1er du traité conclu à Washington, le 8 mai, 1871, entre Sa Majesté britannique et les États Unis de l'Amérique.
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OCLC Number:
769698423
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Available Volumes
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| Name | Fiche Count | Online | Paper Backup |
| Tome 1 | | Yes | No |
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