History of the United States I / Unit 12 USH1 1716 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Pierce and Buchanan
Captions available
The idea
President Franklin Pierce had announced expansionist intentions at his eighteen fifty-three inauguration, and retreated from the Cuba plan after the leak.
In practice
Louisiana's legislature requesting federal action in eighteen fifty-four, and former Mississippi governor John Quitman raising slaveholder funds for an invasion.
Where people slip
Buchanan, once elected, denounced filibustering as the action of pirates, having been thought the memo's author.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
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