Franklin Pierce was the presidential candidate for the Democrats in the election of 1852. He was a charming, amiable man with no particular distinction, and this is what partially allowed him to win the election. He attempted to maintain harmony by avoiding divisive issues, and particularly by avoiding the issue of slavery; but this was an impossible task. The battle over slavery raged on during his presidency. Pierce hoped to dampen sectional controversy through his support of a movement in the Democratic party known as the "Young America" Movement which saw the expansion of American Democracy throughout the world as a way to divert attention form the controversies of slavery. There was controversy under Pierce, for he had been pursuing unsuccessful diplomatic attempts to buy Cuba from Spain (efforts begun in 1848 by Polk). In 1854, a group of his envoys sent him a private document from Ostend, Belgium, making the case for seizing Cuba by force. When the Ostend Manifesto as it became known, was leaked to the public, it enraged many antislavery northerners, who charged the administration with conspiring to bring a new slave state into the Union. Also under Pierce, the Transcontinental Railroad also greatly expanded and thrived. However, a southwestern route was needed to make a complete railroad, and so the Gadsden Purchase was made. Also under Pierce was the Kansas-Nebraska Act, along with the Birth of the Republican Party. Pierce also had to deal with the “Bleeding Kansas” scandal. In addition, the Free-Soil Ideology took a firm root during Pierce’s presidency. Because Pierce was closely associated with the explosive question of “Bleeding Kansas”, he was not chosen as a candidate for the Democratic Party, ending his political career.