Question: what two reasons were given for supposed british support of the confederacy during the civil war

title: United Kingdom and the American Civil War
text: The possibility of recognizing the Confederacy came to the fore late in the summer of 1862 . At that time , as far as any European could see , the war seemed to be a stalemate . The US attempt to capture the Confederate capital had failed , and in the east and west alike , the Confederates were on the offensive . Charles Francis Adams , Sr. , warned Washington that the British government might very soon offer to mediate the difficulty between North and South , which would be a polite but effective way of intimating that in the opinion of Britain , the fight had gone on long enough and should be ended by giving the South what it wanted . Recognition , as Adams warned , risked all - out war with the United States . War would involve an invasion of Canada , a full - scale American attack on British shipping interests worldwide , an end to American grain shipments that were providing a large part of the British food supply , and an end to British sales of machinery and supplies to the US . The British leadership , however , thought that if the Union armies were decisively defeated , the US might soften its position and accept mediation .