On Sun, 18 Apr 1999 10:00:31 -0500 "Peter Kilander" <peterk at enteract.com>
writes:
>>Karl Marx was a stauch supporter of the Union or Federal side in
>>the American Civil War. During that time he wrote numerous newspaper
>>articles in support of the North and he made strenous efforts to
>rally
>>worker support for the North especially when it appeared that Britain
>>and other European powers were considering intervening on behalf
>>of the Confederates.
>
>I've heard this too (Although, Marx's writings on the subject are hard
>to
>find, so I've been told) I've heard that Britain was for the South
>but
>wasn't aware that the European powers were considering invervention.
>
In Britain, Palmerston's government seriously considered intervening in the American Civil War on the side of the Confederacy. The British textile industry was directly dependent on the maintenence of the supply of cotton from the American South. (As Michael pointed Engels' own firm was directly dependent on American cotton, and he suffered financial losses due to the war). The British aristocracy was notoriously sympathetic to the Confederacy. They readily identified with the Southern planters. British textile workers suffered enormously because of the North's blockade of shipping to and from the South. The fact that Marx and others were able to rally worker support for the North despite the fact that this was contrary to their immediate economic interests is a testimony not only to their persusasive skills but to the capacity for the working class leaders in Britain to see beyond their immediate self-interests. They were able to perceive that the destruction of slavery was in the longterm best interests of the working class, even though the accomplishment of this objective required significant sacrifices on the part of industrial workers in Britain.
BTW one of Lincoln's reasons for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation was to head off European intervention on the Confederate side. When Lincoln made the destruction of slavery an objective of the war, political support in Britain for intervention dried up.
Also, the French considered intervening on the Confederate side as well. In fact they took advantage of the Civil War in order to intervene in Mexico, where they installed an Austrian princeling as the Emperor of Mexico. After the Civil War, the French were pressured by the US to withdraw their support for Emperor Maximilian was deposed and executed by Mexican revolutionaries.
Jim Farmelant
___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]