oct 18, 1854 - Ostend Manifesto

Description:

A document written by American diplomats in Ostend, Belgium, that described the rationale for the United States to purchase Cuba from Spain while implying that the U.S. should declare war if Spain refused.

It angered Northerners because it was a clear attempt by Southerners to spread slavery and increase their power in Congress. It delighted Southerners because it meant another state under slavery.

Although President Franklin Pierce rejected the Ostend Manifesto, the manifesto itself made Northerners suspicious of Southerners' attempt of expanding slavery, and this soured Northern and Southern relations.

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