October 1861:
According to Wikipedia October 3 was the day that Governor Thomas Moore of Alabama (actually he was Governor of Louisiana) declared an embargo that restricted the export of cotton from the state to England and other European nations.
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| Governor Thomas Moore |
This was done to force an artificial
shortage of cotton driving unemployment and unrest in these nations. It was
hoped that such an outcome would pressure the governments of these countries to
recognize and assist the Confederacy in its struggle for independence. This
policy was quickly adopted by the national government, headed by President
Jefferson Davis, and put into effect. The ‘Law of Unintended Consequences’
quickly went into play.
At that time the Union blockade was paper thin and easily
bypassed by ships of all nations. The Confederate embargo had the unforeseen
effect of making the Blockade appear more effective than it actually was in
fact. This resulted in strengthening the Union claim that this was an internal
affair of suppressing rebellious provinces, and that the Confederacy was not an
independent nation as it claimed to be. The European Monarchies of the time,
despite their intense dislike of the American Republic, hated and feared
breakaway provinces in their own countries even more. Instead of rallying to
the Confederate cause, the Europeans watched and waited, withholding the
recognition so desired by the Confederates.
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| Wharfs Stacked With Cotton Bales |
Great Britain was especially thrown into turmoil by the
cotton shortage.The ruling politicians were, by and large, favorably
disposed toward the Confederacy’s struggle for independence. The British were
more than happy to see the upstart Americans tear themselves apart in Civil
War. Two quarreling nations instead of a larger united country would be less of
an economic rival to the United Kingdom. This was in keeping with long
established British European policy of not allowing one power to dominate the
Continent of Europe that had worked so well keeping peace on the Continent
since the days of Napoleon. Moreover, many British workers in the textile mills
were rendered unemployed by the cotton shortage, and the demands for relief for
such workers swiftly mounted. Such developments came close to bringing the
British to recognize the Confederacy.
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| Civil War Cotton Fields |
Countering these inclinations was the deeply held
detestation of slavery by the British common people, even those who were
unemployed by the lack of cotton. No British government could ignore the will
of the people so expressed, and hope to remain in power, no matter their own
personal inclinations. The unemployment was partly assuaged by the expanding
arms and ship building industries fueled by the demands of the American War. Abraham
Lincoln had shipments of foods and other commodities sent to the workers of
Great Britain, and even today, a statue of Lincoln stands in Manchester England
in gratitude for such generosity. Cotton growers in Egypt and India, both under
British rule at the time, were more than happy to step up production to fill the
gaps caused by the loss of American cotton.
By the time the Confederate Government recognized their
embargo as a failed policy, the blockade had become markedly more effective,
prices of needed military supplies had risen due to demands of the War, and the
value of the Confederate dollar, backed only by the word of the Confederate
Government, had fallen to a fraction of the original face value. Furthermore,
many blockade runners found cargoes of luxury items, rather than military
supplies to be more financially rewarding, further damaging the Confederate
military effort.
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| Blockade Runner |
Hindsight is of course often a 20/20 vision of what should
have or could have been done differently. In this case a better plan for the
Confederates in 1861 might have been to conduct a massive shipment of the
available cotton to Europe where it could have been stored in the event of a
long war, and then used as a financial underpinning for the Confederate paper
money. Few people in 1861 predicted a long or protracted war. The Confederate
policy of States Rights might very well have led to legal challenges to the
authority of the government to take such drastic action.
In the Ken Burns Series ‘The Civil War’ there is a quote
stating the on the tombstone of the Confederacy is written:
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| Confederate President Jefferson Davis |
"If the Confederacy fails," CSA
President Jefferson Davis lamented, "...there should be written on its tombstone: Died
of a Theory."
Written by Brother Gerard Devine MD, Patriotic Instructor
Presented by Brother Wendell G. Small Jr, Camp Chaplain
Major General Thomas H. Ruger Camp #1
