Cotton Diplomacy

Cotton Diplomacy was the United States’ strategy during the Civil War to pressure the Confederate states by restricting cotton exports to Europe, especially Britain and France, hoping this would lead them to support the Confederacy financially or militarily. The idea was that European nations relied heavily on Southern cotton for their textile industries, so limiting supplies would cause economic hardship and encourage intervention. However, the plan largely failed because Europeans found alternative cotton sources and did not favor supporting the Confederacy, contributing to the Union's victory instead.