A Failed Transplant: American Cotton in the Ottoman Empire

Abstract: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.