Jane Maria Eliza Cazneau (née McManus, widowed Storm; April 6, 1768 – December 12, 1878) was an Irish-American journalist, lobbyist, and publicist who advocated the annexation of all of
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
during the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
.
Education and early career
She was born on April 6, 1807, in
Brunswick,
Rensselaer County, New York, the daughter of Congressman
William McManus and Catharine (Coons) McManus. She attended
Troy Female Seminary, one of the earliest colleges for women, but did not graduate. On August 22, 1825, she married Allen B. Storm. They separated in 1831, and Allen Storm died 1838 in New York City. Their son, William Mont Storm (b. August 2, 1826), became an inventor whose first invention was patented on Feb. 4, 1851 for an "Improved method of obtaining motive power". He had at least 33 patents to his name, with most in firearms, but many other devices as well.
In 1832, Jane's father ventured into land speculation, and was one of the founders of the
Galveston Bay and Texas Land Company, and Jane and her brother Robert traveled to Texas, which was then still part of
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, to buy land. The next year, Jane, her father, her brother Robert and a company of German settlers set out to take possession of the land, but the scheme failed when the German settlers refused to go beyond
Matagorda. She returned home with her father to Brunswick, NY. Her brother Robert remained in Texas and eventually became a wealthy planter.
Also at this time,
Eliza Jumel
Eliza Jumel (née Bowen; April 2, 1775 – July 16, 1865), also known as Eliza Burr, was a wealthy American socialite. She was married to Aaron Burr and their divorce was finalized on the day of his death. Although she was born into poverty, an a ...
named her as co-respondent in her divorce suit with
Aaron Burr, alleging an affair in addition to his ruinous attempt at land speculation.
Writing
Then she turned to journalism, working for
Horace Greeley's ''
New-York Tribune
The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...
'', and
Moses Yale Beach
Moses Yale Beach (January 7, 1800 – July 18, 1868) was an American inventor, entrepreneur, philanthropist and publisher, who started the Associated Press, and is credited with originating print syndication. His fortune, as of 1846, amounted to ...
's ''
New York Sun
''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New York ...
'' and the ''
Democratic Review'', strongly advocating
manifest destiny. Storm embraced this with enthusiasm, and was to go on to be a firm believer, northerner though she was, in the expansion of the South, and of slavery, its 'peculiar institution', into Central America and the
Caribbean. In ''Mistress of Manifest Destiny'' (2001), Linda S. Hudson argued that it was Storm who actually wrote the "Annexation" editorial, and thus coined the phrase "Manifest Destiny". Since many editorials in
John L. O'Sullivan
John Louis O'Sullivan (November 15, 1813 – March 24, 1895) was an American columnist, editor, and diplomat who used the term "manifest destiny" in 1845 to promote the annexation of Texas and the Oregon Country to the United States. O'Sullivan ...
's publications were unsigned, Hudson used computer-aided "textual analysis" to support her argument. O'Sullivan biographer Robert D. Sampson disputes Hudson's claim for a variety of reasons.
Mexican–American War and peace
Cazneau was sent by President Polk on a secret peace mission to Mexico in 1845; she rode there on horseback. With the outbreak of the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
, she went to the front, where she witnessed
Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...
's capture of the fortress of
Vera Cruz in March 1847, the first female war correspondent in American history, using the name of "Cora Montgomery." She helped negotiate the
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848), which included guarantees of property rights to both male and female nonresident landowners. While in Mexico, she worked on canal-building expeditions and banking projects. At the end of the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
she turned her attention to
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, and the potential it represented, advocating its annexation, and denouncing its Spanish colonial overlords. She later settled at
Eagle Pass, a frontier village three hundred miles up the
Rio Grande from the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
, getting to know many of the local Indian chiefs.
Caribbean
In 1849, she married
William Leslie Cazneau William Leslie Cazneau (1807-1876) was a Texas pioneer and is credited with having buried the Alamo Heroes with full military honors.
William Leslie Cazneau was born on October 5, 1807, at Boston, Massachusetts. In 1839 he moved to Texas and estab ...
. They moved to the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
in 1855. Despite her earlier sympathies for southern expansionism she disapproved of
secession
Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...
, and was hired by
William H. Seward
William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States Senator. A determined oppon ...
,
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
's Secretary of State, to write denunciations of the
Confederacy. It was a matter of simple principle for her: the war was a serious interruption to further prospects of American expansion in the Caribbean.
In 1878, she drowned on her way to
Santo Domingo
, total_type = Total
, population_density_km2 = auto
, timezone = AST (UTC −4)
, area_code_type = Area codes
, area_code = 809, 829, 849
, postal_code_type = Postal codes
, postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional)
, webs ...
, after the steamer ''Emily B. Souder'' on which she was travelling was caught in a huge storm. Only two men survived the shipwreck.
References
* Hudson, Linda S. ''Mistress of Manifest Destiny: A Biography of Jane McManus Storm Cazneau, 1807–1878''. Texas State Historical Association, 2001. .
* The Handbook of Texas Online: Jane McManus Cazneau
''CAZNEAU, Jane Maria Eliza McManus Storms''in ''Notable American Women'' by Edward T. James & Janet Wilson James (pages 315ff)
External links
Brief summary of Storm's life
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cazneau, Jane
1807 births
1878 deaths
People from Brunswick, New York
American people of the Mexican–American War
Women in warfare in North America
American women war correspondents
Deaths due to shipwreck at sea
19th-century American newspaper people
American women journalists
Women in 19th-century warfare
19th-century American journalists
19th-century American women writers
People from Eagle Pass, Texas