British Labor and the American Civil War

by Philip S. Foner

Book by Foner, Philip Sheldon

Genres: Civil War

135 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Philip Sheldon Foner was an American labor historian and teacher. Foner was a prolific author and editor of more than 100 books.

Reviews

[Guilherme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and concise. I'm not trained as a historian so I can't judge the book's methods, but the event described is remarkable: About a century and a half ago, during the American Civil War, British industrial workers were cast into starvation as the cotton mills shut down due to the Union blockade. The working poor, perennially hungry but now starving, could've very easily joined the rest of British society in supporting the Confederates so the cotton would flow again. But they didn't. Instead, they organized and stood in solidarity with the Union against slavery, despite the deprivations it caused them.

It's good to keep these stories in your back pocket, like a packet of valiums, for when you really need it.

[Marc Lichtman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Britain can be considered another front in the American Civil War, see also The Civil War in the United States. Foner gives much detail on the British capitalist forces who hoped to support the Confederacy, as well as the strong working-class resistance to them, even by workers in the textile industry who were most affected by the loss (or claimed loss--since there was lots of hoarding) of cotton.