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Join us on Sunday the 19th of January at Lincoln Square (between the Town Hall and Deansgate) to commemorate Lincoln's Letter to Manchester; which lauded the ordinary Manuncians' refusal to use slave cotton, on the date it was written. We will hear speeches about the history of the event, current anti-slavery activities, issues for the black community in Manchester, and the role trade unions can play in international solidarity. We will then decamp to a pub to sing songs commemorating the history of the fight against Slavery and the American Civil War.For more info of the history, please see: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21057494
Text of the leaflet reads: "In honour of the african slaves who freed themselves and others, of the American Soldiers who fought for their liberty, and the British workers who refused to use Slave Cotton. In the name of freedom from Slavery, international solidarity, and racial equality; then and now.
As the American Civil War raged on, the mills of Lancashire were shut. An embargo had been placed on the export of Cotton; produced through the use of slave labour, from the American South by the US Government. While members of the British Political and Economic Elite called for the Royal Navy to break the blockade, workers & reformers met at Manchester’s Free Trade Hall to support it; despite the immense personal hardship it had caused many of them. On New Year’s Eve of 1862 they sent a letter to the American President, Abraham Lincoln, declaring their support of the embargo and the fight to free the slaves of that continent. In response, on the 19th of January Lincoln wrote back; honouring the workers of manchester’s “sublime Christian heroism, which has not been surpassed in any age or in any country”. It is this expression of solidarity, in the face of hardship, that we seek to commemorate."
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Lincoln Square, Manchester, M2 5, United Kingdom
