Plot and conspiracy soon became rife and received the support of a number of influential men, who had hitherto held aloof, but who now despaired of permanent prosperity for the Island under Spanish rule. Men who had taken part in the Ten Years War began to organize in secret, and several of their former leaders, Gomez, Garcia, Maceo, and others, returned to Cuba from their voluntary exile. In 1895 was launched the insurrection which culminated in the freedom of Cuba. The leaders of the movement entered upon it with the deliberate design of involving the United States and their success in doing so brought about a result which they could not have attained otherwise. A friendly feeling for Cuba not unmixed with interest considerations, had existed in the United States for many years. Annexation had been discussed during the presidency of John Quincy Adams, and President Polk made a proposition to the Spanish Government for the purchase of the Island. In 1854, the search of several American merchant ships by Spanish cruisers led to the issuance of the “Ostend Manifesto,” a protest on the part of the United States. In this document it was declared that “the possession of Cuba by a foreign power was a menace to the peace of the United States, and that Spain be offered the alternative of accepting $200,000,000 for her sovereignty over the Island, or having it taken from her by force.” During the Ten Years War President Grant expressed to the Spanish Government his belief that only independence and emancipation could settle the Cuban question, and that intervention might be necessary to end the war. He repeatedly proffered the good offices of the United States in reëstablishing peace. Meanwhile the capture of the _Virginius_, in 1873, and the summary execution of fifty-three of her passengers and crew, by order of the Spanish authorities, came very near to involving the countries in war. From the outbreak of the rebellion of 1895, the people of the United States evinced a strong sympathy for the Cubans. This was reflected by the action of Congress in directing President Cleveland to proffer the good offices of the United States to Spain with a view to ending the war and securing the independence of the Island. In 1896 both Republican and Democratic national conventions passed resolutions of sympathy for the Cubans and demanded that the Government should take action. At the close of the same year, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations reported a resolution recognizing the republic of Cuba, but it was never taken from the calendar. Meanwhile reports of outrages and indignities to American citizens in Cuba led to official protest and the appointment of Judge William R. Day to investigate conditions. Popular indignation in the United States was further aroused by the press reports of the dreadful effects of General Weyler’s plan of reconcentration.