<P> British public opinion was divided on the American Civil War . The Confederacy tended to have support from the elites--from the aristocracy and gentry, which identified with the landed plantation owners, and from Anglican clergy and some professionals who admired tradition, hierarchy and paternalism . The Union was favored by the middle classes, the Nonconformists in religion, intellectuals, reformers and most factory workers, who saw slavery and forced labor as a threat to the status of the workingman . The cabinet made the decisions . Chancellor of the Exchequer William E Gladstone, whose family fortune was based on slavery in the West Indies before 1833, supported the Confederacy . Foreign Minister Lord Russell wanted neutrality . Prime Minister Lord Palmerston wavered between support for national independence, his opposition to slavery, and the strong economic advantages of Britain remaining neutral . </P> <P> Even before the war started, Lord Palmerston pursued a policy of neutrality . His international concerns were centred in Europe, where he had to watch both Napoleon III's ambitions in Europe and Otto von Bismarck's rise in Prussia . There were also serious problems involving Italy, Poland, Russia, Denmark and China . British reactions to American events were shaped by past British policies and their own national interests, both strategically and economically . In the Western Hemisphere, as relations with the United States improved, Britain had become cautious about confronting it over issues in Central America . As a naval power, Britain had a long record of insisting that neutral nations abide by its blockades, a perspective that led from the earliest days of the war to de facto support for the Union blockade and frustration in the South . </P> <P> Diplomatic observers were suspicious of British motives . The Russian Minister in Washington, Eduard de Stoeckl, noted, "The Cabinet of London is watching attentively the internal dissensions of the Union and awaits the result with an impatience which it has difficulty in disguising ." " De Stoeckl advised his government that Britain would recognize the Confederacy at its earliest opportunity . Cassius Clay, the United States Minister in Russia, stated, "I saw at a glance where the feeling of England was . They hoped for our ruin! They are jealous of our power . They care neither for the South nor the North . They hate both ." </P> <P> Lincoln appointed Charles Francis Adams, Sr., as minister to Britain . An important part of his mission was to make clear to the British that the war was strictly an internal insurrection and afforded the Confederacy no rights under international law . Any movement by Britain to recognizing the Confederacy officially would be considered an unfriendly act toward the US . Seward's instructions to Adams included the suggestion that it should be made clear to Britain that a nation with widely scattered possessions, as well as a homeland that included Scotland and Ireland, should be very wary of "set (ting) a dangerous precedent ." </P>

European powers favored a civil war in the us because
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