Day 35 - Manchester: Abraham Lincoln

Web: As the largest processor of cotton in the world, Manchester took a strong moral and political stance by supporting Lincoln despite his blockade of the Confederate states beginning in April 1861. This measure drastically reduced supplies of cotton reaching Liverpool and, therefore, the cotton mills of Lancashire.

The aim, for Lincoln, was to out-maneuver the Confederate states, win the civil war and ultimately abolish the US slave trade. But Manchester and the surrounding area, which had once clothed the world, found 60% of its mills falling idle, largely as a result of the blockade.

In a meeting at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in 1862, in a show of defiance despite potential starvation and destitution, workers agreed to maintain support for Lincoln and the embargo.

The meeting took place just as the cotton famine was beginning to have serious distress across the county. US aid ships followed the letter to the shores of the north west, offering relief to starving mill workers in a gesture of gratitude.

It is remarkable that the workingmen’s address offered support to the Northern cause. This was a time when it was widely thought that the quickest way to restore the cotton supply, and hence end the depression, was for Great Britain to recognise and intervene on behalf of the Confederacy.

In supporting Lincoln and the Union, Manchester working people selflessly put their principles ahead of their economic self-interest.

Lincoln wrote a letter on 19 January 1863 to thank the people of Manchester for their support. Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives holds a photocopy of the transcript received by Abel Heywood, the Lord Mayor of Manchester and the Chairman of the Chairman of the meeting of Workingmen, on 9 February 1863.

Interestingly, we saw another statue of Abraham Lincoln in Edinburgh. It was built in 1893 and can be found in the Old Calton Cemetery in Edinburgh city center. It commemorates the Scots who fought on behalf of the Union during the American Civil War.