The Importance of Britain
As Joseph Smith’s prophecy intimated, the Confederacy did indeed appeal to several countries for aid, but Britain was mentioned specifically. This suggests that there was something particular or peculiar about Britain such that it merited specific mention. We can summarize the importance of Britain with the following points:
· When Smith gave his prophecy in 1832, lingering ill feelings about the War of 1812 at the time of Smith’s prophecy would have made an alliance with Britain surprising, even for secessionists.
· Intervention was seriously considered and discussed in Britain essentially from the onset of the war.
· Numerically, Britain had the world’s strongest navy at the time and was therefore the most relevant power to mention in an intervention that would inevitably have a high involvement of navy units.
· From Britain, the Confederacy specially tried to purchase ironclad warships, which could have had a massive effect on the war effort by breaking the Union blockade.
· As the world’s premier manufacturing power at the time, particularly when it comes to textiles, Britain was heavily reliant on Southern cotton while also threatened by Northern industrialization.
· Though Napoleon III of France was friendly to the Confederate cause, he repeatedly stated that he would not take action against the Union blockage unless Britain did it first.
· Britain’s rejection of Napoleon III’s proposal of combined European intervention effectively ended all talk of foreign intervention.
In short, Britain was specifically mentioned in the revelation because alignment with Britain would have been unexpected and because Britain ended up being the most important and most relevant power to which the Confederacy appealed for aid. (Ronald M. Kimmons, The Struggle of All Ages: Joseph Smith’s Prophecy of the American Civil War and of Our Day [N.P.: Ronald M. Kimmons, 2022], 130)
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