To: sense who wrote (177660 ) 9/3/2021 4:12:57 AM From: maceng2 Read Replies (2) | Respond to The cotton trade was a big part of the UK business at the time. In addition, India was also not happy to send all it's raw material to Britain only to have the finshed manufactured goods shipped back. Something that Ghandi picked up on later. "JP That’s right. Throughout the war, the absence of American cotton from Britain was due as much to actions of the Confederacy as of the Union. Indeed, the complete cessation of exports in July 1861 had nothing to do with the blockade, which had only recently been imposed and was not yet effective. The cessation was due to the Confederate states placing an embargo on the export of their own cotton. MW And why was that? JP It was part of the South’s ‘King Cotton’ strategy. Confederate leaders were convinced that Britain and other countries were so dependent on the South’s cotton that they would be forced to recognise Confederate independence. Three months into the war, there had been no such recognition. The embargo was intended to to remind Britain that its economy would soon be devastated without Confederate cotton. MW But this “King Cotton” strategy of holding up cotton exports ultimately failed, didn’t it? Because the British never recognized the Confederacy as a legitimate entity. JP No, it didn’t. Recognition was discussed in Britain, but it was never a likely option and it never happened. The British economy was far more diverse than the Confederate leaders appreciated. 16% of the population may have depended on cotton for their livelihoods, but 84% did not – and that 84% was doing pretty well in the 1860s." British cotton and the American Civil War – In Conversation with Jim Powell & Meredith Wheeler | Liverpool University Press Blog
