THE MONROE DOCTRINE 365 



aroused Mr. Clay's apprehensions. He accordingly sought 

 to induce Spain to yield at once to the demands of Colombia 

 and Mexico, and he threatened, moreover, to bring about the 

 occupation of Cuba by United States armies, rather than 

 suffer the dangers of a foreign war in the islands " whose 

 fortunes have such a connection with the prosperity of the 

 United States." At this juncture a French fleet appeared in 

 Cuban waters (1825), and the fact drew from the Secretary 

 of State an emphatic protest. He wrote to the American 

 Minister in Paris : " With the hope of guarding before- 

 hand against any possible difficulties on that subject that 

 may arise, you will now add that we would not consent to 

 the occupation of those islands [Cuba and Porto Rico] by 

 -any other European power than Spain under any contingency 

 whatever." At the same time, President Adams took occa- 

 sion to announce through the various American Foreign 

 Ministers to all European powers that the United States 

 " desired no change in the political condition of Cuba ; that 

 they were satisfied that it should remain open, as it now is, 

 to their commerce, and that they could not with indifference 

 .see it passing from Spain to any European power." 



Similar statements were freely expressed during the Jack- 

 son, Van Buren, and Tyler administrations. Anxiety upon 

 the subject of European intervention was never permitted 

 wholly to relax, chiefly on account of the fact that the 

 Cubans themselves were generally in a ferment of rebellion 

 against the extortionate and oppressive rule of the mother 

 country. Opportunities for intervention were therefore 

 frequent, and the prize was unusually tempting. 



Some disagreements between Great Britain and Spain, 

 growing out of a treaty for the suppression of the slave trade 

 in Cuba, again brought forth rumors of English intention 

 to occupy the island. Mr. Vail, the American Minister in 

 Madrid, was instructed (1840) " to assure the Spanish Gov- 

 ernment, that in case of any attempt, from whatever quarter, 

 to wrest from her this portion of her territory, she may 

 securely depend upon the military and naval resources of 

 the United States to aid her in preserving or recovering it." 



