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Myth and Reality

Southern propagandists hoped to rally the French to their cause by using the memory of French Louisiana. In particular, they highlighed the North’s refusal to let its rival leave the federation, recalled the South’s adherence to free trade, used the principle of national self-determination to present the South’s struggle as that of an emerging nation supressed by the North, and painted a picture of an aristocratic Dixie of European culture and customs. As a result, Napoleon III, much of his court, and many of the French elite sympathized with the South. Yet difficulties for the French in the Confederate Stateseventually turned French favour against the South. Southern restriction of business activity, the burning of French-owned tobacco fields, the forced conscription of French nationals, as well as diplomatic blunders by Confederate officials and the increasing authoritarianism of the Confederate government all helped turn the tide of opinion. In addition, the French consuls’ dispatches depicted a very negative image of the Southern elite. The French reactions of astonishment, dismay, and indignation at Lincoln’s death are proof that the vision of a pro-Southern France should be qualified.