The Caroline Affair and the Diplomatic Crisis between Great Britain and the United States, 1837–1841
The Caroline Affair and the Diplomatic Crisis between Great Britain and the United States, 1837–1841

Summary/Abstract: The Caroline affair was one of the few historical events of British-American diplomacybetween the War of 1812 and the Webster-Ashburton Treaty in 1842.The beginning of the incident was maked by the destruction of the American shipCaroline by British Army forces in Upper Canada on December 29, 1837. Whenthe incident occurred, Anglo-American opinions on this issue stood in stark contrast.The differences in opinion caused tension between the two countries. Underthe threat of war, Great Britain and the United States held talks on the Carolineaffair. The handling of the Caroline problem played a significant role in reducingtensions, paving the way for the resolution of conflicts in the relationship betweenthe two countries through the Webster-Ashburton treaty in 1842. In addition, thisissue established new principles in international politics. This article makes a contributionto the history of the Caroline affair, the McLeod case and British-Americanrelations related to this issue from 1837 to 1841.

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