Chesapeake Affair - Historical Context

Historical Context

The practice of slave-owning was outlawed in Nova Scotia (and all of the British Empire) by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. When the war began most Canadians were overtly sympathetic to the North. At the beginning of the American Civil War approximately 20, 000 Canadians, almost half of them Maritimers, went to fight, primarily for the North. There were also strong family ties across the border.

As the war went on, relations between Britain and the North became strained for numerous reasons and sympathy turned toward the South. Britain declared itself neutral during the war, which led to increased trade that went through Halifax to both Northern and Southern Ports. Nova Scotia’s economy thrived throughout the war. This trade created strong ties between Halifax and merchants from both the North and South. In Halifax the main commercial agent for the Confederacy was Benjamin Wier and Co. – a company that flew the Confederate flag outside its office and accepted Confederate money. The informal headquarters for the Confederates was located at Waverley Hotel, Barrington Street (present day Waverley Inn). At the same time, Halifax became the leading supplier of coal and fish to the North.

While trade with the South was flourishing, the North created a the naval blockade to prevent supplies getting to the South. Hundreds of Blockade runners would use the port of Halifax to ship their goods between Britain and the Confederate States. Much of the coal and other fuels used to run Confederate steamers went through Halifax.

Further Canadians became fearful of the power the North demonstrated in destroying the South and the possibility of wanting to annex Canada after the Southern defeat. Toronto, Montreal, St. Catharines and Halifax hosted a well-financed network of Confederate spies, escaped prisoners, and soldiers of fortune trying to influence government opinion in the war. The Confederates arranged various attacks on the south from Canada, such as the raid on St. Albans, Vermont. The plan to kill President Abraham Lincoln was made in the St. Lawrence Hall hotel in Montreal, Quebec. The Chesapeake affair was a plan created in St. John, New Brunswick by Confederate sympathisers to capture an American ship, which would become a blockade runner for the South.