0 reactions
Did you know that Egyptian cotton was one of the reasons the Confederacy lost the Anerican Civil War?
In April 1861, when cannons were fired at the Battle of Fort Sumter, the leaders of the American South were sure of an inevitable victory. They believed in 'King Cotton,' and thought that their monopoly on this white commodity would force Britain and France to side with them.
They thought that if the European textile mills stopped working, the whole world would be forced to save them.
But while cotton ginning machines were rusting on the docks of the besieged Confederate ports (Anaconda plan), Egypt's Viceroy, Sa'id Pasha, and after him Khedive Ismael Pasha, were turning large areas of the fertile delta lands to grow Egyptian long-staple cotton.
Washington was not unaware of this change; it sent an envoy to Cairo to urge the Egyptians to double production, thinking that every bale of cotton shipped from Alexandria's port was a painful blow to the Southern rebellion.
And the miracle that the Southerners did not expect happened: Egypt's cotton exports jumped from 7 million dollars in 1861 to 77 million just four years later. On the other hand, Southern exports fell by more than 50%, so British mills found a closer and cheaper alternative than the Confederate ports.
When London and Paris realized that they could manage their needs from Egyptian cotton, their desire to take the risk of recognizing the Confederacy and sending fleets to break the blockade faded away.
Egypt was contributing to choking the Southern war economy, which eventually led to General Robert E. Lee's surrender in April 1865 and the end of the Civil War.
Sources:
\- Edward Mead Earle, "Egyptian Cotton and the American Civil War", Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 41, No. 4 (December 1926), pp. 520-545.
\- U.S. Department of State, "Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs" (1863): Contains the official dispatch dated December 15, 1862, where Secretary of State William H. Seward explicitly notes that the expansion of cotton cultivation in Egypt is "of immense importance" to the United States and serves as a warning to the Confederacy that their prosperity is "dissipated" as the world turns to alternative suppliers.
#local
In April 1861, when cannons were fired at the Battle of Fort Sumter, the leaders of the American South were sure of an inevitable victory. They believed in 'King Cotton,' and thought that their monopoly on this white commodity would force Britain and France to side with them.
They thought that if the European textile mills stopped working, the whole world would be forced to save them.
But while cotton ginning machines were rusting on the docks of the besieged Confederate ports (Anaconda plan), Egypt's Viceroy, Sa'id Pasha, and after him Khedive Ismael Pasha, were turning large areas of the fertile delta lands to grow Egyptian long-staple cotton.
Washington was not unaware of this change; it sent an envoy to Cairo to urge the Egyptians to double production, thinking that every bale of cotton shipped from Alexandria's port was a painful blow to the Southern rebellion.
And the miracle that the Southerners did not expect happened: Egypt's cotton exports jumped from 7 million dollars in 1861 to 77 million just four years later. On the other hand, Southern exports fell by more than 50%, so British mills found a closer and cheaper alternative than the Confederate ports.
When London and Paris realized that they could manage their needs from Egyptian cotton, their desire to take the risk of recognizing the Confederacy and sending fleets to break the blockade faded away.
Egypt was contributing to choking the Southern war economy, which eventually led to General Robert E. Lee's surrender in April 1865 and the end of the Civil War.
Sources:
\- Edward Mead Earle, "Egyptian Cotton and the American Civil War", Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 41, No. 4 (December 1926), pp. 520-545.
\- U.S. Department of State, "Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs" (1863): Contains the official dispatch dated December 15, 1862, where Secretary of State William H. Seward explicitly notes that the expansion of cotton cultivation in Egypt is "of immense importance" to the United States and serves as a warning to the Confederacy that their prosperity is "dissipated" as the world turns to alternative suppliers.
#local
| 1,000 mlx | |
| 1 | |
| 0 |