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The Ostend Manifesto

The Antilles Flower

The Antille's Flower

  • Ever since the start of Spanish detachment from America, many American Politicians had their eyes on Cuba, the Antilles' Flower.
  • A plethora of factors contributed to this such as:
  • Manifest Destiny
  • Cuba's optimal location
  • Southern Desire to aqquire more slave-owning territory.

Cuba's Location

  • At the time, in the early to mid 1800's, the Gulf of Mexico was one of the most profitable areas in the world.
  • Through the Louisana Treaty, the United States Aqquired an outlet to the Gulf
  • Aqquring Cuba would solidify their spot in the Gulf of Mexico making Cuba an important purchase.

Manifest Destiny

  • Manifest Destiny is the idea that the United States of America is destined by god to expand and spread American Ideals throughout North America.
  • This idea had a lot of popularity and the Expansion during the 1800s can largely be accredited to this pilisophy.
  • Although Cuba isn't technically part of the North American continent, many proponents of this philosophy supported U.S expansion into Cuba.

Slave Territory

  • Southerners wanted the United States to be in control of Cuba in order to create a new slave state there
  • Southern Democrats believed the additon of a new slave State, especially in Cuba would be in their best political and economic interests due to the large plantation economy
  • Having Cuba would strengthen the weakened economic status of these Southern Democrats due to the ongoing Abolitionism
  • This motivation would cause many political implications and greatly changed the course of America's aqquring of Cuba

The United States Pursues Cuba

The United States Pursues Cuba

Franklin Pierce(above)

  • After his inaugaration, President Pierce stated, "The policy of my Administration will not be controlled by any timid forebodings of evil from expansion."
  • Slavery or any specific territories were not named but many knew that President Pierce would appeal to Southern Interests due to the members of his party.
  • Although President Polk, a pro-slavery, expansionist president set the political direction from 1845 to 1849,
  • Pierce's presidency marked the start of the Us's pursuit for Cuba.

A meeting In Ostend

The Creation of the Manifesto

  • The secretary of state, William L. Marcy suggested Pierre Soulé, U.S Minister to Spain, meet with James Buchanan, U.S Minister to Britain, and John Y. Mason, U.S Minister to France in order to formulate a plan regarding Cuba
  • From October 9 to October 11, in 1854, they met in Ostend, Belgium
  • For another week directly after, they met in Aachen Prussia to prepare a full report on their findings

Negative Publicity

  • Although Pierre Soulé was warned by Marcy to keep the meetings secret, Soulé took no heed
  • The European and American press were aware of the meetings occuring
  • This lack of secrecy may have been what lead to the sheer impact the U.S.A's pursuit of Cuba had on the political scenery of America at the time

The Key Contents of the Ostend Manifesto

Key Contents of the Manifesto

  • In theory, the Ostend Manifesto stated the rationale for the U.S.A to buy Spain and also stated that America would declare war and take Cuba by force if Spain refused
  • The rationale provided in this text included :
  • racial fears of Cuba becoming "Africanized"
  • a possible inserruction and civil war occuring(The U.S.A tried many times to support inserructions in Cuba)
  • Cuba falling into imperial hands in violation of the Monroe Doctrine
  • The money given by the U.S.A to Spain being a great way for Spain to improve its own country's railroads and economy

Racial Tensions

  • Racial Tensions were extremely high during this period already building up to the American Civil War
  • Many feared another slave revolt in Cuba after Haitian slaves gained independence
  • Fearing that another slave revolt may cause rebellion to spread to the Southern U.S.A as well, the Southern Slave owners encouraged some action to be taken in Cuba

Threat of War

  • The Manifesto also states that in case a revolution in Cuba occurs, the U.S.A would have to support their "neighbors" as a like-minded liberal nation
  • This was an indirect threat made in the Manifesto to Spain, stating that if they did not give up Cuba for the price the United States offered. they would lose both the Island and the money.
  • Later in the text, the U.S.A direclty states that they will directly wage a war against Spain if they declined the offer.

Spain's Improvement Potential

Spain's Improvement Potential

  • One of the only parts of the text that wasn't a threat to Spain was the section where the sum of money was discussed
  • The Manifesto stated that using 2/3 of the money the U.S gave Spain, the railroads can be greatly improved and the quality of life for people can be increased
  • Along with this, the Manifesto stated that the remaining 1/3, if used to create a sinking fund in order to clear Spain's debts can also make Spain overall more powerful and economically stable.
  • Spain was offered 120 Million Dollars. If inflation was considered, that money would be worth 5 billion dollars today.

Threat of Foreign Powers

  • In the Manifesto, no nation is specifically mentioned but the writer worries that foreign nations will use their influence to aqquire to Cuba from Spain.
  • The U.S.A would not be secure in this situation and the only way to achieve true security would be to possess Cuba.
  • The Manifesto also states that Spain is not good at handling foreign territories and so Cuba should be in the posession of the U.S.A

Reaction and Political Implications

Reaction and Political Implications

  • Spain had already stated once that they, would rather see Cuba sinking than going into America's hands. It was very unlikely that they would accept the offer.
  • However the Manifesto did not get that far due to internal struggles.
  • The North was against the Manifesto because they saw it as just another plot to extend slavery.
  • The political scenery of America was greatly affected by the Manifesto and tensions between the North and South grew even more.
  • The Manifesto recieved national backlash and so expanisionist interests were never pursued.

Effect on National Politics

  • The North viewed this manifesto as another plot to extend slavery
  • Many Northern Democrats in the Free-Soil party slowly started shifting to the Republican Party
  • Sectionalism increased and the North and South were further divided
  • This Manifesto served as a trigger for anti-slavery activists and tensions increased, especially in the Bleeding Kansas area

International Backlash

International Backlash

  • The Ostend Manifesto completely dismantled the Pierce Administration.
  • Him carrying southern Interests didn't please the North and so he did not serve a second term.
  • Europe greatly condemned the Ostend Manifesto
  • The national governments of Spain, Britain, and France all denounced this Manifesto.
  • Soulé was forced to stop discussion of Cuba and he resigned.

Breakout Room:

Breakout Room

Using the information you have learned from this slide, analyze the clues and escape by filling in the right codes and key words in the Google Form below:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdEjpfCidBillC-QR43z6SGqhWnL9GJT8uw7mOMjFNcCkblUw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Clue One

Which one of these individuals was not involved with the Ostend Manifesto?

A. James K Polk

B. James Buchanan

C. James Mason

D. Pierre Soule

What area did the Ostend Manifesto attempt to gain control of?

A. The Carribean

B. Puerto Rico

C. Cuba

D. The Gulf of Mexico

Why were the Northerners outraged by the Ostend Manifesto?(Choose 2)

A. They viewed it as a plot to increase Slavery

B. They wanted to expand Northwards instead

C. They thought Manifest Destiny only meant Mainland North America.

D. The South Would Gain power in congress if Cuba was added as a Slave state, decreasing the North's power.

Clue 2:

TEH

ERLEAD

ENDUR

HWOM

EAINSTFMO

ASW

ENWTTIR

Clue Two

Clue 3:

Clue Three

The Declaration of Independence : July 4, 1776

George Washington: Febuary 22, 1732

Abraham Lincoln: Febuary 12, 1809

Franklin Pierce: November 23, 1804

The Ostend Manifesto: ???

Quiz

Here is a link to a quiz to test yourself on the information you learned:https://quizizz.com/join/quiz/63d16b1cd463d5001e740388/start?studentShare=true

Test Yourself!

Sources

Here is a link to the sources utilized:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iE2lhfYX87C50DBiRrsiDG_hLTYweFQV_MkTSpUv9Dc/edit

Sources

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