wolf_brother
Banned
WI the Ostend Manifesto actually plays out, and the US gets Cuba. What happens to the Cuban independence movement? AFAIK they were aggregating for independence, so how do they view the change in management from Spain to America?
What affect does this have on US politics, especially in the run up to the civil war? IMHO Cuba is pretty obviously going to come in as a slave state; does this mean Kansas enters as a free state to maintain the North-South/Free-Slave state balance? If so how does the lack of Bleeding Kansas affect the years leading to the ACW; is the ACW pushed back, or avoided somehow?
Asides from the North/South split, how does this affect US policy? After beating Mexico and purchasing Cuba, does the US have a more southern view now? Does she build a southern railroad through the former Mexican territories to connect the South to the West - is the Gadsden Purchase larger for butterflies from a successful Ostend, or smaller because of it?
Internationally what's the European reaction to the US' sudden expansion on the North American continent? Notably now at the expense of a European state. Though the US purchases Cuba there was always the implication throughout negotiations that she would seize it by force if Spain wasn't willing to sell - I imagine that doesn't look too good to the British especially, with her Caribbean and Canadian territories bordering the United States.
I know, lots of questions
However I've seen the Ostend Manifesto discussed several times, but never thoroughly of in any kind of depth. It always seem to be either dismissed out of hand, or somehow lead to Confederate-wank in the ACW. So, thoughts?
What affect does this have on US politics, especially in the run up to the civil war? IMHO Cuba is pretty obviously going to come in as a slave state; does this mean Kansas enters as a free state to maintain the North-South/Free-Slave state balance? If so how does the lack of Bleeding Kansas affect the years leading to the ACW; is the ACW pushed back, or avoided somehow?
Asides from the North/South split, how does this affect US policy? After beating Mexico and purchasing Cuba, does the US have a more southern view now? Does she build a southern railroad through the former Mexican territories to connect the South to the West - is the Gadsden Purchase larger for butterflies from a successful Ostend, or smaller because of it?
Internationally what's the European reaction to the US' sudden expansion on the North American continent? Notably now at the expense of a European state. Though the US purchases Cuba there was always the implication throughout negotiations that she would seize it by force if Spain wasn't willing to sell - I imagine that doesn't look too good to the British especially, with her Caribbean and Canadian territories bordering the United States.
I know, lots of questions