Culture Log 2: William Walker 25/2/10

William Walker was born in Tennessee in 1824. His education in medicine and law started early after he graduated at age 14 and traveled around Europe during the time of the revolution. In 1853, Walker’s filibustering dreams took off as he began with an expedition to Mexico.. After Mexico quickly rid him from the country, he evaded US neutrality laws and returned to Central America, this time Nicaragua.
Walker led attempts to take over other Central American countries like Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, but Nicaragua held the most importance because it facilitated the trade route between New York and San Francisco. After being recognized by the US as Governor, Walker’s conquests became more ambitious, and Europe and US support began to subside. Then, the president of Costa Rica, Juan Rafael Mora, declared war on Walker. Going for the surprise attack, Walker sent his men to Santa Rosa but lost the battle there in March of 1856. By cutting off Walker’s resources, Costa Rica and American supporters were able to infiltrate his regime in Nicaragua and defeat him in the Second Battle of Rivas in April of the same year.
Momentarily halting expansion, Walker instead settled for President of Nicaragua through farcical elections. He then implemented slavery, the English language and currency as a means to Americanize Nicaragua. A Central American Coalition and Vanderbilt’s army then defeated Walker’s army and he returned to the US. After 6 months, he returned to Central America to try his luck in Honduras, where he was captured by the British Navy and executed by Honduran authorities in 1860.