ABSTRACT
The idea of arbitration as promoted by the international peace movement during the 1840s (see §4.2) attracted new attention as a result of the Alabama issue, so-called after a privateer of that name. During the American Civil War, the Northern states blocked the coasts of the Southern states and the latter retaliated by hiring privateers from other states with the aim of hurting the Northern states’ trade. They succeeded in this with the help of the Alabama from Liverpool, which from 1862 preyed on Northern shipping until it was sunk by a cruiser in 1864. In the meantime, more privateers had been equipped in the UK. After the end of the Civil War in 1865 the US government accused the UK of violation of neutrality and opening its ports to belligerent ships. The US bitterly demanded compensation.
