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The Trent Affair - Part I

richfolkes

New member
Ask yourselves this:

Did you know that Great Britain came perilously close to becoming involved in the American Civil War?

In August 1861, Confederate President Jefferson Davis appointed former Virginia Senator James M. Mason and former Louisiana Senator John Slidell as special commissioners to the UK and France respectively. They set out on the British mail steamer Trent bound for Liverpool, England.

The ship was intercepted by the USS San Jacinto on the high seas. The San Jacinto's crew boarded the Trent and arrested Mason and Slidell; taking them back on board the San Jacinto. The Trent was then allowed to resume its voyage to Liverpool.

The aftermath of the incident caused a major furor in Britain. Why? By boarding the Trent, and arresting Mason and Slidell, the US had violated the Law of the Sea, thereby committing an act of war against the UK.

To make matters worse, Captain Charles Wilkes who skippered the San Jacinto had failed to consult anyone in the US government prior to intercepting the Trent.

The British Parliament demanded action against the US as a consequence and demanded a formal apology from President Lincoln for the Trent Affair. This letter contained a very harsh ultimatum to which he (Lincoln) had seven days to comply.

As required by law, the Parliament forwarded the letter to Queen Victoria for her approval. The Queen showed her husband Prince Albert the letter. Prince Albert amended the letter to give the United States an opportunity to settle the matter peacefully and with honor to both the US and the UK.

It is said that this act of humanity had cost Prince Albert his life. The official cause of the Prince's death was typhoid fever.

Below is a photograph of the scene of when Prince Albert died:

en-death-of-prince-albert.jpg

What's wrong with this picture?

Everybody knows that typhoid fever is a highly contagious disease and that solitary victims are extremely rare. As one is aware, an outbreak of the disease requires quarantine. Nobody in this photograph ever contracted or died of the disease as a result of being in the room. Furthermore the doctors, Sir James Clark and Dr. William Jenner, were quoted by the Earl of Clarendon as being unfit "to attend a sick cat".

Which leaves us with a reason to speculate this question: Did somebody murder Prince Albert? The fact is that he saved the US from another war with Britain. Next up, what if Britain did enter the Civil War? Watch out for "The Trent Affair - Part II"
 
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