Manchester is a city that likes to pride itself on a history of radicalism and progressive politics. The 19th century saw Manchester as a centre of campaigns in favour of free trade, liberty and democracy. While these may seem like mainstream political positions today they were pretty radical at a time when the country was still run by aristocrats born into their positions of power.

As a testament to these campaigns their goals and ideals were woven in the very fabric of the city itself – its buildings, streets and public works of art. Today we still see evidence of this through buildings like The Free Trade Hall which was built to commemorate the repeal of the hated “Corn Laws” that artificially inflated the price of corn to benefit rich landowners much against Manchester’s free trade instincts and bad news for its workers who relied on bread as a daily staple. The Royal Exchange theatre was also originally built as the city’s cotton exchange where mill owners, their agents and managers conducted business.

Outside of the buildings statues were also erected in Manchester’s streets and squares, often through public subscription. These usually commemorated politicians with impeccable liberal credentials like Robert Peel and William Gladstone. However, there is one politician that some are surprised to hear has a permanent home in Manchester – Abraham Lincoln.

How the statue of an American president ended up in Manchester is quite a convoluted tale that takes in both Manchester’s history of radicalism and, probably more familiar to us these days, 20th century local government practicality. However, let’s start in the 19th century where a little digging shows that the links between Manchester and the United States are not all that tenuous. Manchester, as the world’s first industrial city, was also a truly global city. It was a centre of both industry and trade and it was the southern United States that provided the raw material that largely drove both – cotton. This raw cotton was spun and stored in and around Manchester before being sold on to British colonies and the world.

The problem was that this cotton was picked by slaves and by the middle of the 19th century the issue of slavery was tearing the United States apart. Southern states demanded the right to run themselves how they saw fit and the northern states longed to see slavery abolished and the US brought into the modern world. Tensions lead to civil war breaking out in 1861. The war would last for four years and Lincoln, then president, ordered that southern ports be blockaded so that their cotton went nowhere. This had the backing of many European governments who had already outlawed slavery but it was bad news for the economic life of Manchester.

A year into the war 60% of Manchester’s spindles and looms lay idle. The workers of Manchester suffered greatly. Riots broke out in Stalybridge. In Stockport, 2000 houses were empty and 15 beer houses had to close. Some people turned to desperation and even resorted to moving to Yorkshire! Some mill owners and their workers resented the actions of the northern states and attempting runs on the blockade to bring American cotton into the country. Others even flew Confederate flags.

However, many mill workers supported the Northern states against the slave owning South despite it possibly meaning further destitution and even starvation. After a meeting at the Free Trade Hall in 1862 the workers present drafted a letter to Lincoln in a great show of solidarity with America’s anti-slavery forces. They wrote:

“… the vast progress which you have made in the short space of twenty months fills us with hope that every stain on your freedom will shortly be removed, and that the erasure of that foul blot on civilisation and Christianity – chattel slavery – during your presidency, will cause the name of Abraham Lincoln to be honoured and revered by posterity.”

In this amazing show of support Mancunians went against their own self-interest to do what they felt was morally right. Lincoln wrote back to say:

“the working people of Europe have been subjected to a severe trial…Under these circumstances I cannot but regard your decisive utterances upon the question as an instance of sublime Christian heroism which has not been surpassed in any age or in any country. It is indeed an energetic and re-inspiring assurance of the inherent truth and of the ultimate and universal triumph of justice, humanity and freedom “

Despite the resentment felt in some corners of Manchester, the actions of many cotton workers were noble in the extreme. People already lived harsh lives with long working days but the absence of work was even more catastrophic as it meant no shelter and no food. While the statue of Lincoln can be seen as a legacy of this historic link and show of altruism the actual history behind it does go a bit deeper.

The statue was initially intended to stand in Parliament Square to commemorate a century of peace between the UK and US but its design proved controversial. The president’s son, Robert, hated the statue and thought that it made his father look like he had a stomach ache due to the placing of his hands. It was only after World War I, when London received a more “statesmanlike” image, did Manchester Art Gallery stump up the funds to buy the statue to remember the solidarity showed by the mill workers. This was despite there not being universal sympathy for the northern states among Mancunians or the country as a whole.

When the statue arrived it originally stood at Platt Lane and the plaque on its base referred to ‘Lancashire’s friendship to the cause for which he lived and died’. With this inscription the original purpose of the statue was forgotten and it now became a celebration of Manchester’s abolitionist history. While many cities still have street names and statues to men who made fortunes from war and slavery Manchester went a different route.

In 1986 the statue was moved to its current location among the offices and cafes of Lincoln Square between Albert Square and Deansgate. Take a look next time you’re on your lunch break and remember that Manchester has always done things a bit differently.

Abe in his original home of Platt Fields