Originally, Gladstone had held a strong prejudice against Americans, calling them ‘a dishonest, unprincipled people’ in 1844. He was especially critical of the money-grabbing Northern Yankee tradesmen and farmers, and shared the prejudiced view of the English upper-class that the Southern planters, with their cultivated drawl, were the closest thing [[United States of America|America]] had to gentlemen. | Originally, Gladstone had held a strong prejudice against Americans, calling them ‘a dishonest, unprincipled people’ in 1844. He was especially critical of the money-grabbing Northern Yankee tradesmen and farmers, and shared the prejudiced view of the English upper-class that the Southern planters, with their cultivated drawl, were the closest thing [[United States of America|America]] had to gentlemen. |