In 1862 Lancashire was the world’s leading cotton producer. It took in cotton from the South of America and processed it into cloth in its mills. It made Britain prosperous. The mills produced 40% of the countries GDP. Manchester was the centre of the world.
The cotton would come in to Liverpool and be transported to the mills in Manchester. It provided the single greatest amount of work in Britain.
At the height of the American civil war the confederacy stopped the export of cotton. They wanted to force Britain to come in on the side of the confederacy. They miscalculated.
The Mill owners and Lancashire workers were united. They refused to join the confederacy on the basis that it was morally reprehensible to use slave labour (over a million black slaves were used in the Southern fields). The Confederacy saw slavery as the backbone of its economy. The Union opposed slavery.
The Mill owners and workers stated they would rather starve than support slavery. The voted to support the North. The mills closed and the people starved but they were staunch in their support of what was morally right.
Slavery can never be justified!
My Grandmother came from Lancashire. She was proud and she was fair. She was a determined woman.
Sometimes you have to stand up for what is right and just. For once the bosses and workers were united in a cause. The American Union and black slaves owe a debt of gratitude to the proud people of Lancashire. Their sacrifices helped bring down slavery!!
Reblogged this on Opher's World and commented:
There have always been fair-minded people of all races who have stood up against injustice even when it severely hurt them.
Opher, I commend the courage of the people of Lancashire. I read that although the British government remained neutral for the first two or three years of the war, private British investment paid for the building of many Confederate Naval vessels in Liverpool and that Liverpool was the unofficial site of the covert Confederate embassy. Also, it was Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 that prompted Britain to openly support the Union side in the war. However, the damage had been done as far as the Union was concerned. There was an outcry after the war that Washington demand Canada be turned over to the US in compensation for the damage British investor and shipyard support of the Confederacy which used its ships to inflict damage on the Union.
Ah John – it is good to hear from a historian who can shed further light on the subject. Thank you.
Opher, I’d love to think us folk from Lancashire were so high minded but my understanding was that the Lancashire Cotton Famine was caused by a combination of overproduction of cotton in previous years and the cut-off of supply of cotton due to boycotts and blockades imposed by both sides in the American Civil War. I doubt the starving mill workers were thinking about their enslaved counterparts in America. Many of the wealthier mill owners tried to employ their workers in other ways but many went out of business. It was a sad time in Lancashire history and I’ve found evidence of this in several family trees I have researched. Lois
Ah well Lois – we live and learn. I like to think of them being idealistic and supportive but life is often more basic.
We are now, Ophir 😉
Yes I know.
Opher- predictive text sorry
That’s OK. What’s in a name?