Cotton famine

The cotton famine (1861 - 1865) was a depression in the textile industry in the north west of England, brought about by the American Civil War.

When the Union blockaded the Confederate States of America in 1861, it was originally thought that UK cotton stocks would be adequate to see through the anticipated brief conflict. However, by the beginning of 1862, mills were closing and workers being laid off.

On December 31, 1862, a meeting of cotton workers at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, despite their increasing hardship, resolved to support the Union in their fight against slavery. On January 19, 1863 Abraham Lincoln sent an address thanking the cotton workers of Lancashire for their support. A monument in Lincoln Square, Manchester commemorates the events.