Changes

The outcome of the Civil War resulted in a strengthening of U.S. foreign power and influence, as the definitive Union defeat of the Confederacy firmly demonstrated the strength of the United States Government and restored its legitimacy to handle the sectional tensions that had complicated U.S. external relations in the years before the Civil War. The end of the War allowed the United States to resolve the Alabama claims against Great Britain for providing ships to the Confederaacy that destroyed Union ships.