KS 3 & 4 themes
- Africa and the transatlantic slave trade
- Cotton and transatlantic slavery
- Local cotton industries in Greater Manchester
- The American Civil War and Lancashire cotton workers
- Freedom and human rights
- Campaigning for the abolition of slavery
- After abolition
- Legacies of transatlantic slavery: racism in Manchester
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The American Civil War and Lancashire cotton workers
Cotton famine flour barrel, 1862, Touchstones Rochdale
See this object at Touchstones Rochdale
This item may not always be on display, please check with the venue before visiting
The north west of England was directly affected by the American Civil War. The region needed raw slave-grown cotton from the southern states of the USA to supply its cotton mills. Abraham Lincoln blockaded southern ports in the USA to prevent the export of cotton and to protest against slavery.
This meant that no raw cotton came into Britain and led to the Lancashire cotton famine of 1862-63. It cost Lancashire mill owners about £30m. It was a time of great hardship and many cotton workers were unemployed and starving. Despite this, many people in the north west of England still supported the abolition of slavery.
On 9 February 1863, the relief ship George Griswold, docked at Liverpool, carrying food sent by Abraham Lincoln and the people of New York and Philadelphia to thank the starving people of Lancashire for their support of the northern anti-slavery states in the USA. The ship was greeted on the dockside by a crowd of nearly 4,000 people. The cargo included boxes of bacon and bread, bags of rice and corn, and 15,000 barrels of flour.
The barrel shown in the picture is the only one remaining from that cargo and is on display at Touchstones Rochdale.