The American Scion Who Secured British Neutrality in the U.S. Civil War
What do you wear to meet the queen of England? Torn between a crisp navy-and-gold lace suit or a severe black morning coat, Charles Francis Adams fretted over his first day of work. He was more comfortable in plain clothes, but worried that he would look like a proper English butler in all black.
So the 55-year-old American statesman erred on the side of history in the spring of 1861, dressing for his new London audience in full color. It was starchy and hot, but Adams had to make a good first impression. To a degree, the fate of his nation’s Civil War hinged on his royal interview. Which way would the world turn: North or South?
Leafing through Adams’ recently digitized diaries, spanning the period from 1861 to 1865, we can watch how Charles, the son and grandson of American presidents, carved out a second home in England, negotiating his place in Victorian London, and succeeding in his main diplomatic mission: securing British neutrality in the war.
His diary “remains unique because his view of the war operates on two levels,” says Sara Martin, editor in chief of The Adams Papers editorial project, based at the Massachusetts Historical Society. “First, he was a father whose son was a soldier, so he experienced the war as a parent. Second, as the U.S. minister to the Court of St. James, Adams was tasked with mitigating foreign engagement in the domestic conflict. Thus, his diary places the war in a global context.”
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/american-scion-who-secured-british-neutrality-us-civil-war-180974000/
