If the US and UK had gone to war in the mid-1850s, which country would have likely come out as victorious? In the mid-1850s the US and Great Britain nearly went to war. The UK was unhappy with US supplying the Russians with weapons and goods in the Crimean war despite their supposed neutrality.  Meanwhile the US were unhappy with Britain's imperialism, with southerners in particular very unhappy with Britain policing the slave trade in Africa and pressuring Spain to end slavery in Cuba.

In a potential war scenario, Lord Palmerston apparently favoured a strategy of crushing the Americans at sea, burning cities on the East coast, and landing black battalions in the south to foment slave rebellions. Meanwhile, newspaper columnists writing in the US argued the US could raise an army of 300,000 men to invade England with ease.

Which of these strategies was more likely to succeed? Which country would have likely come out on top if this war had gone ahead?