10 November 2022
The US Ambassador, Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, and Councillor Donna Ludford, Manchester Lord Mayor invited a delegation of students to attend a ceremony in Lincoln Square.
This auspicious event celebrated the shared history linking the United States to the United Kingdom. It acknowledged the incredible support of the people of Manchester for Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.
In 1862, during a meeting in the Manchester Free Trade Hall, mill workers agreed to maintain support for Lincoln and the ongoing cotton embargo against the Confederate States. This incredible political and moral stance came at an enormous personal cost. It drastically reduced supplies reaching the cotton mills of Lancashire, decimating production and a vital industry.
Their support, despite the looming and very real possibility of starvation and destitution, was utterly selfless, and it was an incredible honour for our students to attend and speak at this event.
