CHAPTER XXV.
the administration of pierce, 1853–1857.
THE CONFUSION OF PARTIES.
Caleb Cushing.
405. Character of Pierce’s Administration.—The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill and the war in Kansas are the most important features of Pierce’s administration (§§ [411]-[414]). The new President, being amiable and weak, yielded to the counsels of Jefferson Davis and Caleb Cushing[[183]] of his Cabinet, and took a strong pro-slavery position, with the result that he speedily lost his popularity, save in the South. At first, however, he pleased most of his fellow-citizens, especially on such occasions as his visit to the World’s Fair at New York in 1853, where he made a glowing speech. But although Pierce himself is almost forgotten, his administration is of great importance to the student, since its leading events and measures were most instrumental in bringing on the Civil War.
406. The Know-Nothings.—Pierce’s administration was distinguished by the rise of a new, short-lived party, which for a time caused apprehension in the older organizations, and had much to do with the overthrow of the Whigs. This was the American party, which became prominent in 1852. Its members were popularly known as “Know-Nothings,” because, being bound by oath to reveal nothing concerning their organization, they always answered inquiries in this negative fashion. It had “lodges,” which sent delegates to secret nominating conventions, and its strength could not be gauged before an election. Its chief object was to prevent foreigners from being too easily and speedily naturalized and to elect native-born Americans to office. Similar organizations had existed before and have been developed since; but the American people have never long tolerated illiberal and secret parties. The Know-Nothings carried some state elections and put candidates in the field for the campaign of 1856, but they soon after disappeared from the political stage. The party furnished a refuge to many Whigs, particularly from the South, for it was neutral on the slavery question. Its growth was accelerated by the bad influence on local politics, especially in New York City, exerted by the crowds of ignorant foreigners who sought our shores after the Revolution of 1848 and the great Irish famine. Nothing could have been more disgraceful than the corrupt municipal government of New York City about this time, and many citizens feared that the rest of the country would be contaminated.
407. Attempts to Secure Cuba.—Attempts to seize territory to the south in the interests of slavery, continued during Pierce’s administration. In 1853, a bold adventurer named William Walker gathered rash followers and made an attack on Lower California, which completely failed. The next year, leading Southerners like General Quitman, an adopted citizen of Mississippi and a distinguished soldier in the Mexican War, tried to secure Cuba by forcing the United States into a war with Spain on account of the confiscation of an American steamer, The Black Warrior. This attempt was merged in the intrigues that produced the Ostend Manifesto.
408. The Ostend Manifesto.—On the 16th of August, 1854, William L. Marcy, Pierce’s Secretary of State, wrote to Pierre Soulé, the American minister at Madrid, that “much advantage might accrue from an interchange of views between himself, Buchanan, and Mason” (the Ministers to Great Britain and France) “in regard to the acquisition of Cuba.” Accordingly, these three Ministers met at Ostend, Belgium, and after a conference of a few days, promulgated the paper known as the “Ostend Manifesto” (October 18, 1854). They declared, first, that Cuba should belong to the United States; second, that the government might well offer for the island the sum of one hundred and twenty million dollars; and third, that if Spain would not accept this sum, the matter of conquest ought to be considered. The manifesto was generally well received in the South, but in the North it was characterized as “the manifesto of brigands.”
409. Filibustering.—Soon Central America attracted the filibusters, as these adventurous invaders of peaceable states were called. In 1854 a little place named Greytown, on the Mosquito coast, was bombarded by an American ship for no very good reason. The next year, Walker interfered in a revolution in Nicaragua, and for a while got control of the state by making a creature of his, named Rivas, president. The new government was recognized by Pierce, but was shortly after overthrown.[[184]]
410. Perry’s Expedition.—Although the disgraceful actions of the filibusters and the war in Kansas seem to mark Pierce’s administration as a thoroughly discreditable one, it was not without bright features. In 1854 a commercial treaty with Japan was secured as the result of a naval expedition which had been sent out in 1852 under Commodore Matthew C. Perry. This treaty, which was promulgated in 1855, is memorable as opening a place for Japan among the great nations of the world.