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Manchester's textile mills were hit particularly hard by the Cotton embargo. Initially they had four months stockpiles as war broke out, but these were quickly depleted and not replaced. It did not help that speculators held on to raw cotton in the hope of the price rising causing yet more misery. By 1862 there were mill closures and mass unemployment.
Ironically, one of the consequences was an increase in emigration notably to the North of America; agents came to recruit for the North's own cotton industry and also they sought manpower for the Federal army. Relief was provided in the form of tokens that could be exchanged for food. However, this only added to the resentment and led to a series of riots breaking out across the North. The government hurriedly created constructive employment schemes in urban regeneration instead which provided cash employment if only for a limited period of time. |
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