ATTITUDES IN WALES As the war proceeded, the impact in Britain was felt in places such as Lancashire especially. By 1862, the area was running out of cotton and the mills were closing. The British government's attitude was one of wait and see, with lobbying in the press by both the Confederate and Unionist sides. The South needed international recognition badly, so it could be seen as an independent country. Indeed, the Confederacy was popular in some places, notably Liverpool where some of the ships for their war effort were built. However, there is still an ongoing debate amongst historians as to how popular the case for the South really was, even in the mills of Lancashire; many argue that the working classes identified more with the progressive North. Radical politics was very popular at the time, and the Union could be seen as representing a type of freedom, not only for the slaves, but in the American dream itself. Given that many of the immigrants were recent arrivals themselves, the war could almost be described as a conflict between European cousins; by the time that Lincoln had decreed that they would free the slaves whatever happened, Palmerston's government, though officially neutral, knew that it would be impossible to give the Confederacy any more recognition. Because of the letters and reports in newspapers, and because plenty of people had family out in the States, the war was a talking point in Wales also. A lot of the Welsh-language papers were published in Utica, including Y Cenhadwr Americanaidd, Y Cyfaill o'r Hen Wlad, and Y Drych and many of these papers would be sent back to Wales on a regular basis. The events of the war were often the subjects of competitions at eisteddfodau, and Wales differed no more or less than the rest of Britain in the diversity of its opinion, with some for the Union and others for the Confederacy. Some showed a particular interest, such as William Williams, landlord of the Carw Coch public house Aberdare, who was firmly behind the North. A map in the pub showed all the main military campaigns, and the American flag would be hoisted every time Lincoln's armies won a battle. The American Welsh The Welsh and Slavery During the War Attitudes in Wales