Page "History of the United Kingdom" Paragraph 57

During the American Civil War ( 1861 – 1865 ), British leaders personally disliked American republicanism and favoured the more aristocratic Confederacy, as it had been a major source of cotton for textile mills.

Prince Albert was effective in defusing a war scare in late 1861.

The British people, who depended heavily on American food imports, generally favoured the United States.

What little cotton was available came from New York, as the blockade by the US Navy shut down 95 % of Southern exports to Britain.

In September 1862, during the Confederate invasion of Maryland, Britain ( along with France ) contemplated stepping in and negotiating a peace settlement, which could only mean war with the United States.

But in the same month, US president Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation.

Since support of the Confederacy now meant support for slavery, there was no longer any possibility of European intervention.