Alabama Claims Confederates purchased commerce raiders from Britain Alabama highly successful in disrupting Union shipping U.S. government demands com
{"Image DocumentName": "Painting of the CSS Alabama fighting the USS Kearsage", "Image ImageDescription": "Alabama Claims. Confederates purchased commerce raiders from Britain. Alabama highly successful in disrupting Union shipping. U.S. government demands compensation from Britain. In 1872, an arbitration commission ordered Britain to pay  15.5 million. The Alabama claims arose from an ongoing dispute between the U.S. and Britain regarding U.S. monetary claims for ships lost to British-built Confederate raiders. The CSS Alabama was by far the most successful of the commerce raiders (ships that specifically attacked cargo ships), but similar craft had also harried Union shipping in 1861 and Demanding compensation, the U.S. government asked Britain for over  2 billion. Britain refused to pay. Finally, in 1871, the British and U.S. governments established an arbitration board to evaluate the merit of U.S. claims. In 1872, the arbitration board ordered Britain to pay the U.S.  15.5 million in damages. While the British did compensate the U.S. government for damages caused by the British-built raiders, the British paid only a fraction of the original claim. In the end, the matter actually led to friendly relations between Britain and the U.S., and the precedent set by the claims would be used to resolve many subsequent international disputes. Painting of the CSS Alabama fighting the USS Kearsage.", "Image XResolution": "37", "Image YResolution": "37", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Centimeter", "Image Software": "SlidePlayer", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered"}