King Cotton Diplomacy and Southern Recognition
In comparison with the Northern states, those of the South lacked expansive industrialization and infrastructure, and had limited resources with which to build, and sustain, an army during the war. However, one characteristic - its dominant agricultral production - was thought to be a strong path towards ensuring outside recognition and intervention in the conflict. The Confederacy's focus in their international outreach thus centered significantly upon their role as a key exporter of cotton, the region regularly producing roughly three-quarters of the global supply. The biggest consumer of this product, believed to be most impacted by any changes in the South's supply, was Great Britain, a nation in the height of industrialization driven by its textile manufacturing. Early in 1861, cotton exports out of Southern ports were halted, cutoff by the producers themselves, denying Britain further shipments even as the product piled up in storage.
The strategy of 'King Cotton Diplomacy,' despite its promise in the eyes of Southern officials and merchants, was met with several roadblocks that impeded its effectiveness and ultimately resulted in failure. Britain's cotton supply did not dry up to the extent the South had hoped. In addition to material shipped from its colonial holdings in Asia, the nation had gradually built up a significant stockpile to draw from. Furthermore, after the installation of a Union naval blockade along the Southern coastline in 1861, the Confederacy lacked a clear route through to get rid of the cotton that still sat awaiting shipment, whether they wanted to export it or not.
Finally, it was the North's economic significance to Great Britain ultimately won out, particularly in regards to the hope that it would break the stangling blockade. The states of the Union provided both a source of production and consumption for the British economy, its diverse farmlands producing exported food and its larger population buying British goods. 'King Cotton' failed, in part, due to the over-reliance of the South upon the influence and importance of the plant. Though some still believed in its potential, this strategy was not long maintained by the Confederate government.
The concept of King Cotton appeared in mediums throughout the North and South, where it recieved praise of its association with Southern pride, and criticism of its dependence on slave labor and overseas consumption.