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Harcourt, William George Granville Venables Vernon (1827-1904) American neutrality

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00267.360 Author/Creator: Harcourt, William George Granville Venables Vernon (1827-1904) Place Written: New York, New York Type: Pamphlet Date: 1865 Pagination: 1 v. : 11 p. ; 22.5 x 14.7 cm. Order a Copy

Written by Harcourt as a journalist in Britain under the pseudonym "Historicus." Cover says the pamphlet is reprinted version of his letters to the London Times of 22 December 1864. The letters focused on questions of international law resulting from the Civil War in the United States. He was against recognition of the Southern states as belligerents and was influential in the formulation of English public opinion on this problem. He also sought to define Great Britain's role as a neutral country.

Harcourt would later become a well-known Liberal Democratic parliamentarian associated with Prime Minister William Gladstone's accession to power. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer 1892-1895.

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