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Originally Posted by legendsport
British (and French) support for the South was mainly economical in that they wanted the cheap and abundant cotton for their mills. Politically it would have been very difficult for the government of either nation to support a nation which openly endorsed slavery as popular sentiment in Europe was very much against slavery.
That said, they did build blockade runners for the Confederacy and supplied military stores. It was in their best interest for the US to be embroiled in a civil war and unable to respond to any moves they would make in the Western Hemisphere.
California was granted statehood in 1850, so it's unlikely the North would've conceded the war if ceding California was part of the bargain. Most of the West was not organized into states at that time, with New Mexico and Arizona being the last of the continental 48 to make statehood (in 1912), but I still felt that it was unlikely the Confederacy would make a land-grab when their stated goal was independence.
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that makes sense now. I could have sworn that CA was later but it's all good. Thanks for the info
