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Hello, in 1863 in the middle of the American Civil War, President Lincoln wrote,

I know and deeply deplore the sufferings which the working men of Manchester and in all Europe

are called to endure in this crisis.

I cannot but regard your decisive utterances upon the question as an instance of sublime

Christian heroism which has not been surpassed in any age or in any country.

He was replying to a letter from Manchester workers who had urged him to fight the Confederates,

abolish slavery and continue the blockade of the cotton trade which had closed mills in

Northern England and left hundreds of thousands of workers unemployed and in need of subcultures

and unprecedented relief but they held on.

The blockade had led to what's called the Lancashire Cotton Famine, a defining episode

in World Trade and British Social History.

With me to discuss the Lancashire Cotton Famine are Lawrence Golden, Director of the Institute

of Historical Research at the University of London, Emma Griffin, Professor of History at

the University of East Anglia and David Brown, Senior Lecturer in American Studies at

the University of Manchester, Lawrence Golden, how important was the textile industry to

Britain at that time in 1860s?

Very important.

The production of cotton textiles in factories would be gone in Britain in the 1770s in a

small way but by the early 19th century it had transferred to Manchester and the towns

...