mn them. The only real difference is that their methods were,
on the whole, a little more strenuous than ours. Cuban blood was stirred
by the successful revolutions in Mexico and in Spanish South America, and
conditions in the island were contrasted with those in the then somewhat
new United States. Something of the part played by this country in the
experiences of the time is presented in another chapter, on the relations
of the two countries.

The next movement worthy of note came in 1849, if we omit the quarrel, in
1837, between General Tacon and his subordinate, General Lorenzo, and the
alleged proposal of the slaves in the neighborhood of Matanzas to rise
and slaughter all the whites. Neither of these quite belongs in the
revolutionary class. In 1847, a conspiracy was organized in the vicinity
of Cienfuegos. Its leader was General Narciso Lopez. The movement was
discovered, and some of the participants were imprisoned. Lopez escaped to
the United States where he associated himself with a group of Cuban exiles,
and opened correspondence with sympathizers in the island. They were joined
by a considerable number of adventurous Americans, inspired by a variety
of motives. The declared purpose of the enterprise was independence as the
alternative of reform in Spanish laws. An expedition was organized, but
the plans became known and President Taylor, on August 11, 1849, issued
a proclamation in which he declared that "an enterprise to invade the
territories of a friendly nation, set on foot and prosecuted within the
limits of the United States, is in the highest degree criminal." He
therefore warned all citizens of the United States who might participate in
such an enterprise that they would be subject to heavy penalties, and would
forfeit the protection of their country. He also called on "every officer
of this Government, civil or military, to use all efforts in his power to
arrest for trial and punishment every such offender against the laws." The
party was captured as it was leaving New York. The best evidence of the
time is to the effect that there was in Cuba neither demand for nor support
of such a movement, but Lopez and his associates, many of them Americans,
persisted. A second expedition was arranged, and a party of more than six
hundred men, many of them American citizens, assembled on the island of
Contoy, off the Yucatan coast, and on May 19, 1850, landed at Cardenas. But
there was no uprising on the part of