President Zachary Taylor Name Pierre Soule | Preceded by Romulus M. Saunders Party Democratic Party | |
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Preceded by Alexander BarrowHenry Johnson Succeeded by Solomon W. DownsJohn Slidell Born August 31, 1801Castillon-en-Couserans, France ( 1801-08-31 ) Previous offices Senator (LA) 1849–1853, Senator (LA) 1847–1847 | ||
Pierre Soulé (August 31, 1801 – March 26, 1870) was an attorney, politician and diplomat from Louisiana during the mid-19th century. Serving as a United States Senator from 1849 to 1853, he resigned to accept appointment as U.S. Minister to Spain, a post he held until 1855.
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He is likely best known for his role in writing the 1854 Ostend Manifesto, part of an attempt by Southern slaveholders to gain support for the US to annex Cuba to the United States. Some Southern planters wanted to expand their territory to the Caribbean and into Central America. The Manifesto was roundly denounced, especially by anti-slavery elements, and Soulé was personally criticized.
Born and raised in France, Soulé was exiled for revolutionary activities. He moved to Great Britain and then the United States, where he settled in New Orleans and became an attorney, later entering politics.
Early life and education
Pierre Soulé was born in 1801 Castillon-en-Couserans, a village in the French Pyrénées. He was exiled from France as a young man for revolutionary activities, allowed to return, then imprisoned several years later for his continued opposition to the government.
Emigration and US politics
In 1825 Soulé escaped prison, and fled first to Great Britain, then to Haiti, and finally to the U.S. He settled in New Orleans and became a lawyer.
In 1847, Soulé sat briefly in the United States Senate as a Democrat elected by the state legislature. He was returned to the Senate for a full term, serving from 1849 to 1853. He resigned to take an appointment as U.S. Minister to Spain, a post he held until 1855.
During this period, Soulé became known for writing the 1854 Ostend Manifesto, part of an attempt by Southern slaveholders of the planter class to gain support to annex Cuba to the United States. Worried about being bounded by free states to the north and west, some prominent Southerners wanted to expand their territory to the Caribbean and into Central America. Cuba still had legal slavery at the time. The Manifesto was roundly denounced in the U.S., especially by anti-slavery elements. Soulé was personally criticized for violating his role as a diplomat and Minister to Spain, which still controlled Cuba.
In late 1852, while in Washington, D.C., he had provided some support and assistance to the agent responsible for rescuing Solomon Northup, a free black from Saratoga Springs, New York, who had been kidnapped into slavery and held in the Red River region in Louisiana for twelve years.
Soulé opposed Southern secession before the American Civil War, but supported his state of Louisiana in the Confederacy after the war began. In 1861, he supported organizing the Allen Rifles and gave an impassioned speech at a big barbecue in Thibodaux in Lafourche Parish.
On May 18, 1861, Soulé was captured by federal troops, charged with "plotting treason against the United States government," and imprisoned in Fort Warren, Massachusetts. Soulé escaped from the prison and was able to return to Confederate territory.
After the war ended in 1865, he went into exile in Havana. Soulé later returned, and he died in New Orleans.