| dc.description.abstract | This transatlantic study examines personification and affect in poetry written during the American Civil War (1861-65). Published in newspapers and periodicals on both sides of the Atlantic, the poetry offers insight into the sometimes-fraught relationship between British and American factions and exposes a variety of opinions and sentiments toward slavery, war, and international commerce. Because some of the poetry was written by ordinary people—including the formerly enslaved—the poems facilitated access for these underrepresented voices of the cotton industry to the political sphere, illustrating partisan opinions on a war in which Britain held official neutrality. This thesis adds to existing Civil War scholarship by recognising poems as cultural artefacts that responded to pivotal events during America’s bloodiest war. More broadly, this poetic discourse became an integral part of the zeitgeist of the Industrial Revolution, and this thesis reveals how nationalism remained at the forefront of discussion, even to the detriment of the abolitionist movement. The timely response of the poetry engendered real-time affects such as anger, contempt, anguish, and disgust, and the prevalent use of national personifications such as John Bull, Columbia, and Britannia cemented nationalist ideologies that served to further divide the two nations. The personifications King Cotton and Freedom were often used to assert opposing opinions, with King Cotton largely portrayed as a pro-slavery figure, and Freedom often utilised as the face of abolitionism. Contemporary articles were examined alongside the poetry to draw conclusions, and this study shows how news spread from the local to the global scene providing a transatlantic, contentious discourse that reflects the boom-bust cycle of the cotton industry and Britain’s dependence on slave-grown cotton. | en_GB |
