Cotton starvation
As so-called Lancashire Cotton Famine , in English Lancashire cotton famine called, the shortage of world are cotton bid as a result of the Civil War in the southern states of the United States referred to 1861-1865 and their impact in particular on the British textile industry.
It was not a question of a famine in the true sense of the word, but rather a transfer from the English famine , which, in addition to "famine", can also mean "scarcity".
background
At that time, the southern United States supplied most of the cotton for the British textile industry. Slaves were used on a large scale in the cotton fields, which is why the use of this cotton was not without controversy; there were textile workers who refused to work with "slave cotton".
When the Civil War began in 1861 and cotton exports were stopped by the Union ( Northern States ) blockade over the Confederate States (Southern States), the British textile industry center Lancashire initially thought that the conflict and blockade would only last for a short time and that its own cotton reserves were sufficient would be.
consequences
The war continued, so that from 1862 onwards, as a result of the cotton shortage, factories were closed and there were mass layoffs. In the cotton manufacturing city of Blackburn, for example, a third of cotton workers relied on support measures ( job creation measures ). Similar problems arose in the textile industry in France and the German industry was also affected.
The Confederation hoped that the economic difficulties in the European cotton industry would lead to European intervention in their favor. However, on December 31, 1862, cotton workers met in the Free Trade Hall in Manchester and, despite the worsening economic situation, expressed their support for the Union and the fight against slavery . Abraham Lincoln thanked the Lancashire cotton workers for their support.
With the end of the Civil War in 1865 and the abolition of slavery, cotton production and export were soon resumed.
Follow in other parts of the world
Great Britain also tried to alleviate the cotton shortage by creating alternative sources of supply. For this purpose, former subsistence farmers in British-controlled areas such as British India or Egypt were encouraged to grow cotton for export instead of the previous staple food.
After the end of the Civil War and the resumption of US cotton exports, these new cotton farmers became superfluous and their cotton was hardly in demand. In many cases, they could no longer return to growing their staples. The impoverishment of these farmers exacerbated several major famines in those areas in the second half of the 19th century.
swell
- ↑ Cotton Town Blackburn: The Cotton Famine 1861–1865 ( Memento of the original from April 19, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Virtual Manchester
- ↑ see dynasty of Muhammad Ali and British rule in Egypt
- ↑ Mike Davis , The Birth of the Third World , ISBN 3-935936-43-5
