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Now first up I should say that I am not from America so my knowledge of the civil war is reasonably basic but I have been watching a few Civil War documentaries recently as I have always been interested in war documentaries and I realised a few weeks ago I knew surprisingly little about the American Civil War.
So after watching the documentaries I got the impression that Lincoln was not really a fan of the British and wanted to keep the British out of the American Civil War.
So my question is what would it have taken for President Lincoln to of actively asked for the British help in fighting the Confederacy?
One example I am thinking of for instance is what if the Confederacy managed to develop a few Ironclad ships and the USA did not have the USS Monitor so essentially the Confederacy would have complete control of the water around the USA. In such a situation would Lincoln ask for the help of the Royal Navy?
Or what about more basic help. For instance if the British developed a gun that was vastly superior to anything the Americans had would Lincoln have bought it in order to help his troops?
I am just wondering for people who know of this period of history how bad things would have to get before President Lincoln asked the British for help?
Obviously he never needed to but I am curious to know what circumstances might have occurred which would have made him consider asking the help of the country which only a few generations earlier the USA was fighting in a war.