British support for the Union was no guarantee when the U.S. Civil War broke out in 1861. In fact, British neutrality did little to hide the fact that large segments of the population favored an alliance with the Confederacy. The cotton manufacturers of Lancashire, for example, had strong ties to the southern plantocracy and the slave system it had established. After all, cheap American cotton fed their textile mills and made them rich. When the North blockaded southern ports, their cotton supplies were threatened. In turn, they invested in ships and crews to run the blockade….
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