Civil War History - Secession and PoliticsWas it Slavery, or was it States Rights? Perhaps it was the election of Lincoln? What were the real reasons for Southern Secession and what were the political issues in this time of war? Find your answers here in the Secession and Politics Disussion.
i apologize for the dumb questions. however, i am in the middle of "one war at a time". and would like to know: 1) did Jeff Davis order the burning of cotton? 2) if so, when? 3) if so, for what reasons? 4) is there EVIDENCE that the CSA tried a cotton embargo to force Britain to recognize the CSA?
best regards to all
mike
Yes, Jeff Davis ordered a Cotton Embargo. Here is an interesting article:
"The cards are in our hands", proclaimed the Charleston Mercury, "and we intend to play them out to the bankruptcy of every cotton factory in Great Britain and France or the acknowledgement of our independence." The Memphis Argus told planters to "keep every bale of cotton on the plantation."
England imported three-fourths of its cotton from the American South. "What would happen", asked James Hammond in his famous prewar "King Cotton" speech of 1858, "if no cotton was furnished for three years?... England would topple headlong and carry the whole civilized world with her, save the South."
Since the administration of President Jefferson Davis wanted to avoid any appearance of international blackmail, the Confederate Congress never formally approved a cotton embargo, but state governments and private citizens voluntarily withheld the crop from the market in hopes of creating a "cotton famine" abroad. The Confederacy was mistaken in its belief that their embargo on "King Cotton" would force the British government to intervene on the side of the South in the Civil War. For one thing, a bumper cotton crop in 1860 had glutted the marketplace, lowering prices and allowing mill owners in England to stockpile cotton.
The initial Southern embargo on the export of cotton and, later, the increasing effectiveness of the Northern blockade did, however, have a brief impact on British life, but in 1862, when the shortage began to be felt more strongly, new sources of supply had been developed in India, Egypt, and elsewhere. Also, more than a million bales had gotten through the blockade, and the British economy was stabilized by a compensating war boom in other industries.
England and France were both wary of entering a war with the United States. Furthermore, Southern society tied cotton to slavery, and England, setting an example France would follow, led the abolitionist movement in the world community.
I am not sure about the direct order to burn cotton. I know that during the evacuation of Atlanta the Confeds burned the cotton and that is why Atlanta burned. Although it would please me greatly to blame Sherman, I can't. Dern!
thanx for the prompt reply.few more questions. 1) a range of prices for a bale of cotton before, during and after the war? 2) what was the dollar value of a slave at the outbreak of the war?? 3)where did planters go to finance their operations? southern banks? northern banks? british banks?
#1 - Cotton prices fluctuated wildly over the years. Prices were high until 1819, then down, up, and down again. In 1837 they hit a crisis low and remained rather low until 1848. Prices rose sharply in 1849 and 1850 but dropped in 1851, though not as low as previously. Throughout the remainder of the 1850s prices rose. The going price at the beginning of the war was at or around 0.24 pence a pound. By mid-war this price had dropped to 0.06 pence a pound due to the Erlanger loan of 1862-1863. A bale of cotton weighed between 1200 and 1400 pounds, and a good year could see 3/4 to 1 bale per acre being harvested, especially in the Mississippi delta lands that were being reclaimed from swamp, and in Louisiana lands, all very rich very fertile soils. BEcause of the war, men could not come home and plant and food became seriously in short supply in the South. The Government in Richmond decided to place limits on the amount of cotton that could be grown and to urge the yoeman farmers to switch to growing foodstuffs. While this was fought by the farmers, cotton production dropped drastically.
The shift to the production of foodstuffs combined with the drain in manpower and the eventual Union occupation created a drastic drop in Cotton production as the war dragged on: 4.5 million bales were grown in 1861; 1.5 million in 1862; 500,000 in 1863; and only 300,000 in 1864. As production dropped, the price of cotton skyrocketed on the world market, and blockade runners decided the risks were worth raking; cotton-exporting corporations formed throughout the cotton kingdom.
#2 - a male, able to work a field could fetch between $500 and $3000 depending on his size, strength, age, health, etc. Here is a quick breakdown of pricing starting in 1800 (sales priced on the New York market, believe it or not!)
1800 - $450; 1820 - $700; 1835 - $900; 1845 - $600; 1850 - $1050; and 1860 - $1800.
Also included in this was the fact that if he was married and had produced offspring ("stud" purposes - back off this are facts).
#3 - They went to Northern banks because the southern banks were all controlled by Northern Banks anyway. Many of the banks of New York and Pennsylvania were financed by the sale of goods, e.g., cotton, rice, tobacco to Europe. SO, I guess you could say, they went to European banks
thanx again. it would be interesting to see the balance sheets of both large plantation owners and the banks that financed them. new questions 1)which banks helped financed the Union war effort? 2)how was the CSA war effort financed? and by who?
regards, mike
Mike,
As I understand it, private banks do not finance the Governments in their public endeavors. The government treasury does. They sell bonds, use taxes and just plain print more money etc.
Private investors do contribute by the production and sale of the goods needed for war to the aforementioned governments..
Mike,
I'm not sure if this is any info you'd be interested in but it is in the same vein.
Cost Of The American Civil War
The approximately 10,455 military engagements, some devastating to human life and some nearly bloodless, plus naval clashes, accidents, suicides, sicknesses, murders, and executions resulted in total casualties of 1,094,453 during the Civil War. The Federals lost 110,100 killed in action and mortally wounded, and another 224,580 to disease. The Confederates lost approximately 94,000 as a result of battle and another 164,000 to disease. Even if one survived a wound, any projectile that hit bone in either an arm or a leg almost invariably necessitated amputation. The best estimate of Federal army personnel wounded is 275,175; naval personnel wounded, 2,226. Surviving Confederate records indicate 194,026 wounded.
In dollars and cents, the U.S. government estimated Jan. 1863 that the war was costing $2.5 million daily. A final official estimate in 1879 totaled $6,190,000,000. The Confederacy spent perhaps $2,099,808,707. By 1906 another $3.3 billion already had been spent by the U.S. government on Northerners' pensions and other veterans' benefits for former Federal soldiers. Southern states and private philanthropy provided benefits to the Confederate veterans. The amount spent on benefits eventually well exceeded the war's original cost.
Inflation affected both Northern and Southern assets but hit those of the Confederacy harder. Northern currency fluctuated in value, and at its lowest point $2.59 in Federal paper money equaled $1 in gold. The Confederate currency so declined in purchasing power that eventually $60-$70 equaled a gold dollar.
The physical devastation, almost all of it in the South, was enormous: burned or plundered homes, pillaged countryside, untold losses in crops and farm animals, ruined buildings and bridges, devastated college campuses, and neglected roads all left the South in ruins.
Detailed studies of Union and Confederate military casualties are found in Numbers and Losses in the Civil War in America 1861-65 by Thomas L. Livermore (I901) and Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1867-1865 by William F. Fox (1889).
Source: "Historical Times Encyclopedia of the Civil War" Edited by Patricial L. Faust
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