The hypothetical British treaty ports from an 1815 settlement are carried forward into the American Civil War. British ships entering British-held Charleston or New Orleans would complicate a Union blockade. Confederate buyers could obtain supplies at the boundary with those ports. A railway linking New Orleans, Charleston and New York is imagined as an additional connection Britain might have built. A later reply notes that possession of the ports could be economically attractive even if Britain wanted an American ally.
Notable Point · 3:45:45-3:47:25
How British treaty ports could reshape the American Civil War
The 1815 treaty-port counterfactual reaches the Civil War, where British-held New Orleans or Charleston would complicate the Union blockade and Confederate supply.