Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 9, 2014

The Ostend Manifesto was a document written in 1854 describing the rationale for the United States to purchase Cuba from Spain, and declaring that the U.S. would be "justified in wresting" the island from Spanish hands if Spain refused to sell. Cuba's annexation had long been a goal of Southern slaveholding expansionists, although U.S. national leaders had been satisfied to have it remain in Spanish hands rather than those of Britain or France. At the suggestion of Secretary of State William L. Marcy, three American ministers in Europe (Pierre Soulé (pictured), James Buchanan and John Y. Mason) met in Ostend, Belgium, to discuss strategy related to acquisition of Cuba. To Marcy's chagrin, the flamboyant Soulé had made no secret of the meetings, causing unwanted publicity in the U.S. and Europe. The administration of President Franklin Pierce was finally forced to publish the contents of the dispatch, which caused it irreparable damage. The manifesto was immediately denounced in the Northern states and Europe, and it became a rallying cry for Northerners seeking to control the vote on slavery. The question of Cuba's annexation was effectively set aside until the late 19th century. (Full article...)

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