The American Civil War affected the lives of ryots in following ways: ltbrlt (i) Britain was heavily dependent on America for its supply of raw cotton. To reduce this dependency they were always on the lookout for alternative sources on the lookout for alternative sources of supply.
For this purpose they established the Cotton Supply Association in 1857 and the Manchester Cofton Company in 1859. The objective of both was to encourage cotton production the world especially India.
When the American Civil War broke out, supply of cotton to Britain drastically dropped. Frantic messages were sent to India and elsewhere increase cotton exports to Britain. Consequently, merchants gave advances to urban sahukars who in curn extended credit to rural moneylenders to acquire more cotton.
(iv)While the American crisis continued, cotton production in the Bombay Deccan expanded Betwecn 1860 and 1864 cotton acreage doubled. By 1862 over 90 per cent of cotton imports into Britain were coming from India. But these boom years did not bring prosperity to all cotton producers. Some rich peasants did gain, but for the large majority, cotton expansion meant heavier debt.
(v) The moneylenders made the lives of ryots miserable. The ryots came to see the moneylenders as devious and deceitful. The moneylenders were violating the customary norms of the countryside. The credit flow to the ryots was Many ryots lost their lands, homes and resources to the moneylender.
