The Grievances of the South

Victorian MP Richard Cobden believed British politicians supporting the slave-owning American South had been led a merry dance.

1863

Queen Victoria 1837-1901

Introduction

Richard Cobden MP had considerable sympathy with the Confederate States in the American Civil War of 1861-1865, as he regarded Washington as arrogantly meddlesome and corrupted by big business. But in 1863 he held up a report from the US Congress and told his Rochdale constituents that the South’s politicians had forfeited any right to an Englishman’s goodwill.

abridged

THE members from the Southern States, the representatives of the Slave States, were invited by the representatives of the Free States to state candidly and frankly what were the terms they required, in order that they might continue peaceable in the Union; but from beginning to end there is not one syllable said about tariff or taxation. From the beginning to end there is not a grievance alleged but that which was connected with the maintenance of slavery.

This is a war to perpetuate and extend human slavery. It is a war not to defend slavery as it was left by their ancestors — I mean, a thing to be retained and to be apologised for, — it is a war to establish a slave empire, — a war in which slavery shall be made the cornerstone of the social system.

Well, I say, God pardon the men, who, in this year of grace 1863, should think that such a project as that could be crowned with success.

abridged

Abridged from a Speech in Rochdale on 24th November, 1863.
Précis
Richard Cobden, a veteran campaigner for free trade, objected to the way that British supporters of the Confederacy in America’s Civil War made out that the issue was freedom to trade, citing an American report showing that the Southern States themselves seemed concerned only with their right to legalise and extend slavery.
Questions for Critics

1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?

2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?

3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?

Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.

Read Next

Out of Touch

William Pitt the Elder berates Parliament for treating the public like know-nothings.

The Zong Massacre

After a hundred and forty-two slaves were tossed overboard in an insurance scam, Granville Sharp wouldn’t let the matter rest.

Discovery!

Mark Twain covets the supreme sensation of being a trailblazer.