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The Destiny of Cuba: Spain

The American appetite for Cuba has long been one of the facts to be taken into account, and behind it was the history that Spain had lost the rest of her American colonies; and the logic of her colonial history was that she must part with Cuba, and we should make up our minds on the subject. The Americans have been but faintly conscious that the reinforcements of provincial troops from Connecticut, New York and New Jersey--that reached Lord Albemarle before Havana in July, 1762--decided the war when the English and "Yankees" together were the conquerors of Cuba, and in the tremendous scenes of our conflict of states and sections in which slavery passed away, we had almost forgotten the Ostend conference, that was a marvel of effrontery, designed by President Pierce to yield his administration the glory of annexing Cuba--which would have given him rank with Jefferson in the acquisition of Louisiana, and with Polk, who moved our frontiers to the Rio Grande, and swept within our boundaries forever magnificent California.