Question

How did the South attempt to make use of cotton (during the American Civil War) as a weapon of war?

Answer 1

Ans- When the southern states succeeded from the United States to form the Confederate States of America in 1861then they used cotton to provide: 1)revenue for its government

2) arms for its military,

3) economic power for a diplomatic strategy for the fledgling Confederate nation

The Confederate States of America started with an agrarian-based economy that relied heavily on slave-worked plantations for the production of cotton for export to Europe and to the northern US.

On the eve of the American Civil War in the mid-1800s cotton was America’s leading export, and raw cotton was essential for the economy of Europe.In many respects, cotton’s financial and political influence in the 19th century can be compared to that of the oil industry in the early 21st century.

Nonetheless, the Confederacy was able to use cotton as a bartering tool to fund the purchase of weapons, ammunition, and ships from British manufacturers. U.S. President Abraham Lincoln had declared a naval blockade on the Confederacy in April 1861 to prevent its shipments of cotton to European powers.