LYRICS JOE

This poem goes to show the extent of the defeat inflicted on the South. Although it is definently a Northern song, it still rings true, as the South lost their main source of revenue that had existed from colonial life.
Cotton is dead. This is true, as Great Britain no longer bought cotton from the South, as Britain held the overstocks of cotton in their own warehouses. They did not approve of the measures at which the South obtained their cotton, and could even get it from Egypt and India. This arrogant Republican attitude, would manifest in reconstruction. Lincoln, the pacifier/lenient one, was no longer around, and the South would be punished quite harshly.