The Ostend Manifesto

There were many events in U.S. history that led to President Pierce sending out diplomats to attempts to purchase Cuba from Spain. But one could say the interest in Cuba could be traced all the way back to the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams. Both seemed to be interested in the acquisition of Cuba. However, action had not been taken and Cuba remained under Spanish control. 

 

The interest in Cuba was once again ignited by the eleventh president of the United States, James Knox Polk. During his presidency, Polk felt that the Manifest had offered the Spanish a sum of $100 million in exchange for Cuba. However, Spain had declined since they were still making a profit off of the sugar Cuba produced.

 

Eventually, the Manifest Destiny policy had begun to spread in the United States. This policy regards American expansion and stated that the U.S. should keep expanding and claiming territory until it eventually reached the west coast of North America. This policy would play a key part in once again reopening the interest in Cuba. 

 

Eventually, President Pierce came into office. Pierce had admired Polk and attempted to follow in his footsteps when he put in another offer for purchasing Cuba, this one at $130 million. Pierce, being a Southern Democrat, felt that Cuba was entitled to the United States due to its close proximity of the nation and the terms of the Manifest Destiny. However, his ulterior motive as a southerner was actually to gain the slave state of Cuba in an attempt to strengthen the slave-based economy of the United States. Its acquisition, claimed Pierce, would give the South the edge against the North in the ongoing conflict.

 

The eventual creation of the threat within the document by Soulé however, would occur due to the Spanish taking of the U.S. Black Warrior ship. That, alongside the events of the recent Kansas-Nebraska Act, led Soulé to believe it was imperative to acquire Cuba, which led him to create the threat along with the actual Ostend Manifesto.