West's Encyclopedia of American Law "Once recognized as a belligerent party, that party obtains the rights of a belligerent party in a public war, or war between opposing states."

When France and Great Britian recognized the Confederacy as a belligerent and recognition of Southern belligerency, this act really upset Lincoln and the Washington government which much protest. It defined the war, in international law, as a "regular war" between two governments, not a rebellion of peoples. It gave the Confederacy international rights within the rules of the Declaration of Paris and international laws of war.

It is interesting to think how much this caused the Union to restrain against severe retribution against the South when the war ended.

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David Upton