This introductory chapter sets outs the contexts of Cotton Famine poetry and explains the methodology that informs the approaches of the study. The first section examines the historical context, providing a broad overview of the historical environment in which the Cotton Famine occurred, including the contemporary state of industry and urbanisation in Lancashire, the unfolding events of the American Civil War, and the relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States during the period. The second section focusses on the literary context of the crisis, featuring a discussion of contemporary literary circumstances, including the significance of Lancashire dialect poetry, the centrality of poetry to literary-political discourse, and the cultural significance of newspaper publication on both sides of the Atlantic. The third and final section of the introductory chapter explains the methodology used in the book. The conceptual framework underpinning the interpretation of the poetry in this volume is outlined, focussing on the political function of emotion in Cotton Famine poetry, theories of affect, and the concept of “emotional construction” via collective discourse in Victorian newspaper poetry.