A Failed Transplant: American Cotton in the Ottoman Empire

This paper investigates the factors behind the failure of British efforts to cultivate significant amounts of American cotton in the Ottoman Empire to compensate for the supplies cut due to the American Civil War. The reports by British consuls on the subject sheds light on Ottoman labor markets, fi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of world history Vol. 34; no. 4; pp. 557 - 583
Main Author Izmirlioglu, Ahmet
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Honolulu University of Hawai'i Press 01.12.2023
University of Hawaii Press
Subjects
Agricultural production
Agriculture
American Civil War
Attitudes
British foreign relations
Bureaucracy
Cotton
Cotton industry
Cotton trade
Elites
Farmworkers
History
Infrastructure
International aspects
Investigations
Labor market
Land reform
Landowners
Ottoman Empire, ca. 1288-1922
Owners
Regions
United States foreign relations
United States
United Kingdom
Ottoman Empire
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Summary:This paper investigates the factors behind the failure of British efforts to cultivate significant amounts of American cotton in the Ottoman Empire to compensate for the supplies cut due to the American Civil War. The reports by British consuls on the subject sheds light on Ottoman labor markets, financial strains on Ottoman agricultural workers and land owners, difficulties posed by natural and climatic conditions, the challenges faced in the difficult Anglo-Ottoman partnership, and the extent of central Ottoman authority (especially in terms of the ability of imperial bureaucracy to co-opt or coerce regional elites) in the third decade of the Tanzimat Reforms. British communications also display the varying opinions among British officials of the Ottoman government, officials, population, and the status of the Tanzimat Reforms.
ISSN:1045-6007
1527-8050
1527-8050
DOI:10.1353/jwh.2023.a912770