'King Cotton -"Oh isn't that a Dainty Dish to set before the King"'

'King Cotton -"Oh isn't that a Dainty Dish to set before the King"'

A Harper's Weekly cartoon depicting Union general George McClellan presenting a representation of King Cotton.

King Cotton - interpreted here as a caricature of European-style monarchs, displaying elements of the British government - recieves a dangerous gift from Union General George McClellan. The illustration mocks British reliance on southern cotton while also targeting the Southern economic reliance on the crop. The South's decision to place an embargo on cotton exports and the effects of the Union's blockade together placed the prominence of 'King Cotton' on shaky ground, susceptible to collapse. Cotton diplomacy with britain and France was unable to win necessary support for the South. Over the course of the war, and afterwards Southern cotton encountered greater competition from the colonized regions of the Middle East and Asia.

John McLenan

Published by Harper's Weekly; Digitized in GettDigital: Civil War Era Collection

Digitized through Special Collections and College Archives, Musselman Library at Gettysburg College,

September 21, 1861

English

Political Cartoon