Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to examine the special role and function of United States consuls in British North America during the Civil War. It will examine the political patronage system that enabled the officers to obtain their positions, explore their interaction with the local community, scrutinize their performance in office, investigate their extraordinary responsibilities during the Civil War, evaluate their responses to incidents threatening Anglo-American harmony, and assess their efforts to frustrate Confederate use of the provinces as a supply depot and staging area to launch military, naval, psychological, and even biological attacks against the North. The American consuls in the provinces provided critical intelligence which exposed Southern intrigue, crippled Confederate operations from British North America, crushed rebel hopes of opening a second front with fifth column units, facilitated the capture of blockade-runners, and enabled Washington to formulate Anglo-American foreign policy. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)