Investigating the President: Franklin Pierce and the Ostend Manifesto
The Ostend Manifesto, also known as the Ostend Circular, was a document written in 1854 that raised the possibility that the United States would find a pretense to go to war with Spain if the Spanish refused to sell Cuba to the US. The annexation of Cuba had been a goal of slaveholding expansionists for some time, and the idea was also supported by a faction within Cuba itself. The US government had been content to have the island remain in Spanish hands so long as it did not pass to a stronger power such as Britain or France. But the Ostend Manifesto was a radical a shift in foreign policy, because it attempted to justify the use of force to seize Cuba under the guise of national security.
The island of Cuba is located 90 miles south of the coast of Florida. It had been discussed as a potential area for annexation in several presidential administrations, as early as during Thomas Jefferson's Presidency. John Quincy Adams, while he was Secretary of State, had called Cuba "an object of transcendent importance to the commercial and political interests of our Union". As the Spanish Empire lost much of its power, the U.S. respected Spanish sovereignty, believing that eventually Cuba would become part of the United States as the Spanish shed the responsibility of maintaining a colony in favor of economic gain.
Cuba was seen as a real prize for Southern Democrats. They believed their economic and political interests would be best served by the admission of another slave state to the Union. Since slavery already existed in Cuba to support the island's plantation economy (sugar was the main crop), and since Cuba was located in close proximity to the southern slave state, southerners saw Cuba as a natural fit for admission to the union as another slave state. Immigration to Northern industrial centers had resulted in Northern control of the population-based House of Representatives, Southern politicians wanted to maintain the fragile balance of power in the Senate, where each state received equal representation. As more slavery-free Western states were being admitted, Southern politicians increasingly looked to Cuba as the next slave state.
Something known as the Young America movement was quickly gaining traction within the Democratic Party by 1848. It called for more southern expansion. It advocated the annexation of the the Yucatán portion of Mexico, as well as Cuba. Senator John C. Calhoun, though a reluctant expansionist, was also among those who wanted to see Cuba acquired, stating that "it is indispensable to the safety of the United States that this island should not be in certain hands".
President James K. Polk had made Spain an offer of $100 million for the Island, but Spain refused the offer. When adventirers known as "filibusters" such as Venezuelan Narciso Lopez, tried to ignite private attempts to create revolt on the island, President Millard Fillmore intervened, using federal troops to intercept several expeditions bound for Cuba. But Franklin Pierce, who took office in 1853, was committed to make Cuba part of the United States. At Pierce's presidential inauguration, he stated, "The policy of my Administration will not be controlled by any timid forebodings of evil from expansion." He supported the annexation of Cuba as a slave state. Pierce appointed expansionists to diplomatic posts throughout Europe, sending Pierre Soulé, an outspoken supporter of Cuban annexation, as United States Minister to Spain. The Northerners in his cabinet were also fellow doughfaces (Northerners with Southern sympathies).
In March 1854, the steamer Black Warrior stopped at the Cuban port of Havana on a regular trading route from New York City to Mobile, Alabama. When it failed to provide a cargo manifest, Cuban officials seized the ship, its cargo, and its crew. This action was viewed by Congress as a violation of American rights. Soulé delivered an ultimatum to the Spanish to return the ship. Although the matter was resolved peacefully, it increased the Southern expansionists' appetites for acquisition of Cuba.
Secretary of State William Marcy suggested to Soulé that if Cuba's purchase could not be negotiated, "you will then direct your effort to the next desirable object, which is to detach that island from the Spanish dominion and from all dependence on any European power". Marcy's cryptic words were seen by Soulé and others as the administration's intention to acquire Cuba by any means necessary.
From October 9 to 11, 1954, three American diplomats met in Ostend, Belgium: Soulé, James Buchanan (Minister to Great Britain) and John L. Mason (Minister to France), all supporters of the acquisition of Cuba. They then travelled to Aix-la-Chapelle for a week to prepare a report of the proceedings. The resulting dispatch, would come to be known as the Ostend Manifesto. In the memorandum, the ministers wrote that "Cuba is as necessary to the North American republic as any of its present members, and that it belongs naturally to that great family of states of which the Union is the Providential Nursery". The Manifesto urged against inaction on the part of the fUS government. It read:
"We should, however, be recreant to our duty, be unworthy of our gallant forefathers, and commit base treason against our posterity, should we permit Cuba to be Africanized and become a second St. Domingo (Haiti), with all its attendant horrors to the white race, and suffer the flames to extend to our own neighboring shores, seriously to endanger or actually to consume the fair fabric of our Union."
There was concern about a possible slave revolt in Cuba, and many in the south were suggesting that if this happened, it would spread to the southern slave states. In its most controversial statement, the Manifesto said that because of these concerns, the U.S. would be "justified in wresting" Cuba from Spain if the Spanish government refused to sell the island.
Soulé was a former U.S. Senator from Louisiana and was himself member of the Young America movement, who called for a greater American influence in the Caribbean and in Central America. He is suspected to be the primary architect of the policy expressed in the Ostend Manifesto. Buchanan is believed to have written the document. Mason's Virginian roots predisposed him to the slaveholders' sentiments expressed in the document.
Unfortunately for Pierce and Marcy, Soulé could not keep his mouth shut. He made no secret of the meetings in the press, both in Europe and in the U.S. The New York Herald published reasonably accurate reports of what had been discussed by the three Ministers. Pierce was afraid of the political repercussions of confirming the reports because of how this would hurt him politically in the north. He did not acknowledge any of this in his State of the Union address at the end of 1854. The administration's opponents in the House of Representatives investigated the matter. They called on Pierce to release the Ostend Manifesto and were successful in getting the document produced. It was published in full four months after being written.
When the document was published, Northerners were angered by what they considered a Southern attempt to extend slavery. American free-soilers were already upset over the Pierce administration's efforts to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law (which required free states to cooperate in the return of slaves). During the period, the struggle known as "Bleeding Kansas" was also taking place, where anti- and pro-slavery supporters fought for control of the state.
This incident was one of many factors that gave rise to the Republican Party. In that Party's first platform in 1856 it referred to Ostend as a "highwayman's philosophy of might makes right." The Pierce Administration was badly damaged by the incident. The controversy over the Ostend Manifesto contributed to the splintering of the Democratic Party.It also became an international incident. National governments in Madrid, London, and Paris all criticized the Pierce administration for its audacity. In response, Soulé was ordered to cease discussion of Cuba and refusing to do so, he promptly resigned.
In spite of having a part in this mess, James Buchanan was elected President in 1856. Although he remained committed to Cuban annexation, he was hindered by popular opposition and the growing sectional conflict. It was not until thirty years after the Civil War that the issue of Cuba once again became a national issue.
The island of Cuba is located 90 miles south of the coast of Florida. It had been discussed as a potential area for annexation in several presidential administrations, as early as during Thomas Jefferson's Presidency. John Quincy Adams, while he was Secretary of State, had called Cuba "an object of transcendent importance to the commercial and political interests of our Union". As the Spanish Empire lost much of its power, the U.S. respected Spanish sovereignty, believing that eventually Cuba would become part of the United States as the Spanish shed the responsibility of maintaining a colony in favor of economic gain.
Cuba was seen as a real prize for Southern Democrats. They believed their economic and political interests would be best served by the admission of another slave state to the Union. Since slavery already existed in Cuba to support the island's plantation economy (sugar was the main crop), and since Cuba was located in close proximity to the southern slave state, southerners saw Cuba as a natural fit for admission to the union as another slave state. Immigration to Northern industrial centers had resulted in Northern control of the population-based House of Representatives, Southern politicians wanted to maintain the fragile balance of power in the Senate, where each state received equal representation. As more slavery-free Western states were being admitted, Southern politicians increasingly looked to Cuba as the next slave state.
Something known as the Young America movement was quickly gaining traction within the Democratic Party by 1848. It called for more southern expansion. It advocated the annexation of the the Yucatán portion of Mexico, as well as Cuba. Senator John C. Calhoun, though a reluctant expansionist, was also among those who wanted to see Cuba acquired, stating that "it is indispensable to the safety of the United States that this island should not be in certain hands".
President James K. Polk had made Spain an offer of $100 million for the Island, but Spain refused the offer. When adventirers known as "filibusters" such as Venezuelan Narciso Lopez, tried to ignite private attempts to create revolt on the island, President Millard Fillmore intervened, using federal troops to intercept several expeditions bound for Cuba. But Franklin Pierce, who took office in 1853, was committed to make Cuba part of the United States. At Pierce's presidential inauguration, he stated, "The policy of my Administration will not be controlled by any timid forebodings of evil from expansion." He supported the annexation of Cuba as a slave state. Pierce appointed expansionists to diplomatic posts throughout Europe, sending Pierre Soulé, an outspoken supporter of Cuban annexation, as United States Minister to Spain. The Northerners in his cabinet were also fellow doughfaces (Northerners with Southern sympathies).
In March 1854, the steamer Black Warrior stopped at the Cuban port of Havana on a regular trading route from New York City to Mobile, Alabama. When it failed to provide a cargo manifest, Cuban officials seized the ship, its cargo, and its crew. This action was viewed by Congress as a violation of American rights. Soulé delivered an ultimatum to the Spanish to return the ship. Although the matter was resolved peacefully, it increased the Southern expansionists' appetites for acquisition of Cuba.
Secretary of State William Marcy suggested to Soulé that if Cuba's purchase could not be negotiated, "you will then direct your effort to the next desirable object, which is to detach that island from the Spanish dominion and from all dependence on any European power". Marcy's cryptic words were seen by Soulé and others as the administration's intention to acquire Cuba by any means necessary.
From October 9 to 11, 1954, three American diplomats met in Ostend, Belgium: Soulé, James Buchanan (Minister to Great Britain) and John L. Mason (Minister to France), all supporters of the acquisition of Cuba. They then travelled to Aix-la-Chapelle for a week to prepare a report of the proceedings. The resulting dispatch, would come to be known as the Ostend Manifesto. In the memorandum, the ministers wrote that "Cuba is as necessary to the North American republic as any of its present members, and that it belongs naturally to that great family of states of which the Union is the Providential Nursery". The Manifesto urged against inaction on the part of the fUS government. It read:
"We should, however, be recreant to our duty, be unworthy of our gallant forefathers, and commit base treason against our posterity, should we permit Cuba to be Africanized and become a second St. Domingo (Haiti), with all its attendant horrors to the white race, and suffer the flames to extend to our own neighboring shores, seriously to endanger or actually to consume the fair fabric of our Union."
There was concern about a possible slave revolt in Cuba, and many in the south were suggesting that if this happened, it would spread to the southern slave states. In its most controversial statement, the Manifesto said that because of these concerns, the U.S. would be "justified in wresting" Cuba from Spain if the Spanish government refused to sell the island.
Soulé was a former U.S. Senator from Louisiana and was himself member of the Young America movement, who called for a greater American influence in the Caribbean and in Central America. He is suspected to be the primary architect of the policy expressed in the Ostend Manifesto. Buchanan is believed to have written the document. Mason's Virginian roots predisposed him to the slaveholders' sentiments expressed in the document.
Unfortunately for Pierce and Marcy, Soulé could not keep his mouth shut. He made no secret of the meetings in the press, both in Europe and in the U.S. The New York Herald published reasonably accurate reports of what had been discussed by the three Ministers. Pierce was afraid of the political repercussions of confirming the reports because of how this would hurt him politically in the north. He did not acknowledge any of this in his State of the Union address at the end of 1854. The administration's opponents in the House of Representatives investigated the matter. They called on Pierce to release the Ostend Manifesto and were successful in getting the document produced. It was published in full four months after being written.
When the document was published, Northerners were angered by what they considered a Southern attempt to extend slavery. American free-soilers were already upset over the Pierce administration's efforts to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law (which required free states to cooperate in the return of slaves). During the period, the struggle known as "Bleeding Kansas" was also taking place, where anti- and pro-slavery supporters fought for control of the state.
This incident was one of many factors that gave rise to the Republican Party. In that Party's first platform in 1856 it referred to Ostend as a "highwayman's philosophy of might makes right." The Pierce Administration was badly damaged by the incident. The controversy over the Ostend Manifesto contributed to the splintering of the Democratic Party.It also became an international incident. National governments in Madrid, London, and Paris all criticized the Pierce administration for its audacity. In response, Soulé was ordered to cease discussion of Cuba and refusing to do so, he promptly resigned.
In spite of having a part in this mess, James Buchanan was elected President in 1856. Although he remained committed to Cuban annexation, he was hindered by popular opposition and the growing sectional conflict. It was not until thirty years after the Civil War that the issue of Cuba once again became a national issue.