The Appomattox Court House Agreement

The Appomattox Court House Agreement was a treaty signed in 1863 by the United States of America, the Confederate States of America and the United Kingdom as a mitigating body. The treaty declared the legitimacy and independence of the Confederate States.

The Union Loses
The military wit and strategy of Robert E. Lee resulted in several successful offensives and an encirclement of Washington DC. The Anaconda Plan, which prevented the trading of cotton between the Confederate States and the European powers, proved costly for the Union, and without their successes to proclaim the war to be about emancipation, the European powers intervened diplomatically on the side of the Confederates.

Lincoln did not want the war to drag on for longer than it already had; his reputation tarnished and his situation dire, he sent his main general, George Meade, to the Appomattox Court House to sign an agreement of surrender. Meade, Lee and Sir Alexander Nelson on behalf of the British all signed the Agreement on behalf of their governments.

The Agreement Signed
The signatories met at the Appomattox Court House, belonging to Wilmer McLean who had previously attempted to escape the Civil War. There was an air of tension, but discussions were civil and calm.

While the agreement itself spanned over seven pages, the main articles consisted of the following:


 * The Confederate States is to be recognised as an independent and sovereign state;
 * The state of Missouri will remain in the Union, and Confederate claims removed from it;
 * The state of Kentucky is to be ceded to the Confederates, and Union claims removed from it;
 * The New Mexico regions are to be ceded to the Confederates, and formed into the State of Stonewall;
 * The European powers would oversee the reconstruction of the Union and the Confederates, and enforce peace where necessary.

The last clause was an exceptionally vague and controversial point, given the European standpoint being on the side of the Confederates, with many Unionists believing that it was a way for the British to exploit North America through Confederate puppetry.

The Agreement has since become a controversial document in international politics.