successful industry was the raising of sugar cane—by tens of thousands of slave laborers. It was owned and governed by the Spanish crown and had been for years. The island enjoyed hot, tropical weather that was ideal for the production of sugar cane. It was a large island with several small cities, such as Havana, with harbors for seagoing ships. Sugar cane grown far from cities could also be loaded on to smaller boats that carried the crop out to ships anchored off the coast; those ships would then carry the cargo all over the world. Cuba was conveniently located geographically so its merchant ships could travel quickly to American ports, such as New Orleans, and ports in Mexico and South America.
James Buchanan had wanted to annex Cuba and make it another American state since 1848, when he worked in the State Department under President James Polk. He urged annexation of the island again in 1854, when he was minister to England and represented America in the talks that produced the Ostend Manifesto, a document that called for the purchase or annexation of Cuba by the United States and the outright seizure of it if Spain refused to sell the island. Cuba’s sugar cane crop would add to the overall American economy and its slave status would make it another Southern slave state and one more state under the Democratic Party’s control.
Buchanan publicly insisted on peaceful takeovers, but justified the use of force. Nowhere was that clearer than in an addendum to the Ostend Manifesto in 1854 when he wrote, “Our past history forbids that we should acquire the island of Cuba without the consent of Spain, unless justified by the great law of self-preservation.” He added in a bizarre note that if Spain refused a fair monetary offer for Cuba, America could simply seize it, “upon the very same principle that would justify an individual in tearing down the burning house of his neighbor, if there were no other means of preventing the flames from destroying his own home.” 638
President Pierce had tried to purchase the island that year, at the suggestion of Buchanan and others, but failed. Pierce’s secretary of state, William Marcy, wrote to the president, and to Buchanan in England, that he was certain the British government, which was opposed to slavery, would somehow send thousands of Africans to flood Cuba to disrupt the government there. They would then free the slaves on the island, who would turn on the Spaniards, butchering them. The United States would then have to send the Navy to Cuba to help put down the uprising, since the Spanish Navy was three thousand miles away. To avoid that bloodshed and gain Cuba, Marcy wanted to buy the island from Spain for $100 million. He engaged a French businessman from Louisiana, Pierre Soule, to negotiate a deal, but the Spanish government was still not interested and it fell through. 639
A pro-U.S. rebel group had tried to recruit Colonel Robert E. Lee of the United States Army to lead an insurrectionist cabal against the Spanish government there that same year, but Lee declined after consulting his boss, then–Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. Numerous Southern politicians in office in 1858 lusted after Cuba. The Caribbean nation would be good for the country, good for the Democrats, and very good for President Buchanan. He knew there would be objections because of slavery in Cuba, but the country had annexed Texas, a slave territory, in 1845. What was the difference? Besides, if Buchanan could add Cuba to the United States, it would set a precedent for his plans to annex the northern states of Mexico and perhaps add the Central American countries of Nicaragua and Honduras, too. He needed some precedent to take over those countries after his previous efforts had failed; Cuba was the key.
The president considered himself an accomplished diplomat. He had contacts with governments all over the world. Yet so far his two years in office had resulted in nothing but foreign policy
James Buchanan had wanted to annex Cuba and make it another American state since 1848, when he worked in the State Department under President James Polk. He urged annexation of the island again in 1854, when he was minister to England and represented America in the talks that produced the Ostend Manifesto, a document that called for the purchase or annexation of Cuba by the United States and the outright seizure of it if Spain refused to sell the island. Cuba’s sugar cane crop would add to the overall American economy and its slave status would make it another Southern slave state and one more state under the Democratic Party’s control.
Buchanan publicly insisted on peaceful takeovers, but justified the use of force. Nowhere was that clearer than in an addendum to the Ostend Manifesto in 1854 when he wrote, “Our past history forbids that we should acquire the island of Cuba without the consent of Spain, unless justified by the great law of self-preservation.” He added in a bizarre note that if Spain refused a fair monetary offer for Cuba, America could simply seize it, “upon the very same principle that would justify an individual in tearing down the burning house of his neighbor, if there were no other means of preventing the flames from destroying his own home.” 638
President Pierce had tried to purchase the island that year, at the suggestion of Buchanan and others, but failed. Pierce’s secretary of state, William Marcy, wrote to the president, and to Buchanan in England, that he was certain the British government, which was opposed to slavery, would somehow send thousands of Africans to flood Cuba to disrupt the government there. They would then free the slaves on the island, who would turn on the Spaniards, butchering them. The United States would then have to send the Navy to Cuba to help put down the uprising, since the Spanish Navy was three thousand miles away. To avoid that bloodshed and gain Cuba, Marcy wanted to buy the island from Spain for $100 million. He engaged a French businessman from Louisiana, Pierre Soule, to negotiate a deal, but the Spanish government was still not interested and it fell through. 639
A pro-U.S. rebel group had tried to recruit Colonel Robert E. Lee of the United States Army to lead an insurrectionist cabal against the Spanish government there that same year, but Lee declined after consulting his boss, then–Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. Numerous Southern politicians in office in 1858 lusted after Cuba. The Caribbean nation would be good for the country, good for the Democrats, and very good for President Buchanan. He knew there would be objections because of slavery in Cuba, but the country had annexed Texas, a slave territory, in 1845. What was the difference? Besides, if Buchanan could add Cuba to the United States, it would set a precedent for his plans to annex the northern states of Mexico and perhaps add the Central American countries of Nicaragua and Honduras, too. He needed some precedent to take over those countries after his previous efforts had failed; Cuba was the key.
The president considered himself an accomplished diplomat. He had contacts with governments all over the world. Yet so far his two years in office had resulted in nothing but foreign policy
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