WEBVTT - How Was an American Mercenary Briefly President of Nicaragua?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey Brainstuff, Lauren

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<v Speaker 1>Vogelbaum here. William Walker stood a little over five feet

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<v Speaker 1>tall and weighed just about one hundred and twenty pounds

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<v Speaker 1>that's about one and a half meters and just over

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<v Speaker 1>fifty kilos or so. He didn't look the part of

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<v Speaker 1>a brash adventurer or military man, but the Tennessee native

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<v Speaker 1>with the piercing gray eyes was arguably the most successful

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<v Speaker 1>of the nineteenth century American filibusters, who were men who

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<v Speaker 1>fought from manifest destiny, the belief that it was the

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<v Speaker 1>right of the United States to stretch west to the

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<v Speaker 1>Pacific and south into Central America. In the eighteen fifties,

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<v Speaker 1>Walker invaded Mexico twice with a private army and briefly

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<v Speaker 1>installed himself as president of Nicaragua. His exploits were followed

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<v Speaker 1>breathlessly by American newspapers, which either hailed Walker as a

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<v Speaker 1>hero or condemned him as a pirate. Long before the

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<v Speaker 1>word filibuster came to mean a long winded Senate speech

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<v Speaker 1>to block the passage of a bill, it was a

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<v Speaker 1>colorful term for rogues and mercenaries who tried to raid

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<v Speaker 1>foreign territory and claim it for their own. The word

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<v Speaker 1>filibuster probably derives from the Dutch word freibert, a meaning freebooter,

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<v Speaker 1>which the Spanish morphed into philibustero to refer to pirates

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<v Speaker 1>in the Caribbean. In the first half of the eighteen hundreds,

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<v Speaker 1>dozens of American filibusters launched failed expeditions into Mexico and Cuba.

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<v Speaker 1>This was before the U s Civil War, when the

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<v Speaker 1>Missouri Compromise barred the addition of new states, allowing enslavement

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<v Speaker 1>above the Mason Dixon line. While some filibusters only sought

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<v Speaker 1>fortune and fame, others hoped to claim southern territories that

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<v Speaker 1>could then be annexed by the US as slaveholding states.

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<v Speaker 1>Before the article this episode is based on How Stuffworks,

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<v Speaker 1>spoke with journalist Scott Martel, author of the book William

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<v Speaker 1>Walker's War, How One Man's Private American Army Tried to

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<v Speaker 1>Conquer Mexico, Nicaragua, and Honduras. He explained that Walker fell

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<v Speaker 1>somewhere in the middle. Originally he got into filibustering for

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<v Speaker 1>the personal glory, but ultimately quote he wanted to create

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<v Speaker 1>a Central American Caribbean empire. That would still have slavery.

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<v Speaker 1>Walker came from a wealthy and politically connected family in Nashville, Tennessee.

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<v Speaker 1>He graduated from college at fourteen, studied to become doctor

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<v Speaker 1>by seventeen, then travelled Europe for two years before settling

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<v Speaker 1>in New Orleans to practice law. After the untimely death

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<v Speaker 1>of his fiancee, A, Walker became an editor at the

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<v Speaker 1>New Orleans Daily Crescent, where Whitman was briefly a colleague.

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<v Speaker 1>By this time, philibustering was all over the headlines. In

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen forty eight, the Venezuelan born philibuster Narcisso Lopez attempted

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<v Speaker 1>to invade Cuba with a private army of American recruits

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<v Speaker 1>and financial backing from Southern plantation owners. Since Lopez was

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<v Speaker 1>in violation of the Neutrality Act of eighteen eighteen, the

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<v Speaker 1>US government sent warships to scuttle the raid. In an editorial,

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<v Speaker 1>Walker took the filibuster's side. He wrote, there is no

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<v Speaker 1>law of nations recognized in this country, at least, nor

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<v Speaker 1>of morals, which deprives a man of the right of

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<v Speaker 1>expatriating himself if he pleases to take his share in

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<v Speaker 1>a foreign quarrel which appeals to his love of liberty

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<v Speaker 1>or detestation of tyranny, or even to his mere sordid

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<v Speaker 1>estimate of glory and gain. By eighteen fifty three, Walker

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<v Speaker 1>was living in gold Rush era San Francisco, a magnet

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<v Speaker 1>for young adventurers looking to strike it rich in the West,

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<v Speaker 1>and he was seriously entertaining his own career as a filibuster.

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<v Speaker 1>Walker and other would be invaders set their sights on

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<v Speaker 1>the northern Mexican state of Sonora, right across the southern

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<v Speaker 1>US border. Martel said there was a common belief at

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<v Speaker 1>the time that the Mexican government wasn't in control of

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<v Speaker 1>the border territory on their side. From the filibuster's perspective,

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<v Speaker 1>it was land for the taking. If they could impose

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<v Speaker 1>a government, then it would be theirs to defend a

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<v Speaker 1>Walker tried diplomacy, first, sailing to the Baja Peninsula to

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<v Speaker 1>request permission for the establishment of a private mining colony

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<v Speaker 1>in Sonora, but someone tipped off the Mexican authorities that

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<v Speaker 1>Walker had grander plans for an American empire in Mexico,

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<v Speaker 1>and he was kicked out. Martel said he would return

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<v Speaker 1>to Sonora not as a putative settler, but as a conqueror.

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<v Speaker 1>Back in San Francisco, Walker and his associates openly recruited

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<v Speaker 1>men to the cause an equipped a ship called the

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<v Speaker 1>Arrow with weapons and provisions for a proper invasion. The

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<v Speaker 1>US authorities caught wind of Walker's plan and seized the Arrow,

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<v Speaker 1>but in a midnight raid, Walker's men were able to

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<v Speaker 1>steal back some of their supplies and set sail for

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<v Speaker 1>Mexico on another vest, the Caroline, With a ragtag brigade

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<v Speaker 1>of just forty five men, Walker landed in the port

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<v Speaker 1>city of La pazz and quickly seized the governor's office,

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<v Speaker 1>where they lowered the Mexican flag and raised one of

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<v Speaker 1>Walker's own design for his new country. Walker announced, the

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<v Speaker 1>Republic of Lower California is hereby declared free, sovereign, and independent,

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<v Speaker 1>and all allegiance to the Republic of Mexico is forever renounced.

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<v Speaker 1>He also gave himself the title of President. Hundreds of

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<v Speaker 1>reinforcements sailed down from San Francisco, eager to join Walker's

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<v Speaker 1>fledgling empire and to stake a claim to lucrative mining rights.

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<v Speaker 1>But once the men arrived, they found an ill equipped

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<v Speaker 1>army without a solid game plan. Local ranchers took up

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<v Speaker 1>arms against Walker's underfed troops, who began deserting in droves

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<v Speaker 1>despite Walker's violent punishments. By the spring of eighteen fifty four,

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<v Speaker 1>even Walker realized that the invade had failed, so he

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<v Speaker 1>men his exhausted men marched north and surrendered to the

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<v Speaker 1>US authorities at the border. Walker was charged with violating

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<v Speaker 1>the Neutrality Act, but was merely acquitted. Martel says that

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<v Speaker 1>the US government saw Walker as a pest and nothing more.

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<v Speaker 1>He would soon prove them wrong. In the late eighteen fifties,

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<v Speaker 1>Nicaragua was locked in a civil war between two opposing

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<v Speaker 1>political parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals. The Liberals had

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<v Speaker 1>the support of a former American newspaperman named Byron Cole,

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<v Speaker 1>who pitched the idea of hiring the now famous Walker

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<v Speaker 1>to capture the Conservative stronghold of Grenada. Nervous of being

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<v Speaker 1>tried a second time for breaking the Neutrality Act, a

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<v Speaker 1>Walker said that he would only come if he and

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<v Speaker 1>his men were invited as colonists and given land grants.

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<v Speaker 1>The Liberals agreed, and Walker sailed down with a mercenary

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<v Speaker 1>band of fighters, mostly veterans of the Mexican American War.

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<v Speaker 1>After heavy fighting, they took the city, and Walker managed

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<v Speaker 1>to get himself appointed as the head of the Nicaraguan military. Then,

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<v Speaker 1>when Nicaragua's puppet president fled after an invasion by neighboring

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<v Speaker 1>Costa Rica, Walker declared himself president. In eighteen fifty six,

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<v Speaker 1>even United States President Franklin Pierce officially recognized him as

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<v Speaker 1>the country's new leader. As President, Walker made English the

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<v Speaker 1>national language and legalized slavery. He might have had a

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<v Speaker 1>long and successful career as a Central American imperialist if

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<v Speaker 1>he hadn't angered another American that claimed Nicaragua. Before the

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<v Speaker 1>Panama Canal connected the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

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<v Speaker 1>Shipping magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt established a profitable shortcut transporting cargo

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<v Speaker 1>and passengers across Nicaragua by river and land. Walker seized

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<v Speaker 1>Vanderbilt steamships as property of Nicaragua, which didn't sit well

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<v Speaker 1>with the New York millionaire. Martel explained, Vanderbilt sent word

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<v Speaker 1>to the Costa Rican military, I'll pay for your troops

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<v Speaker 1>if you'll help me get rid of Walker. Surrounded by

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<v Speaker 1>Costa Rican troops and Vanderbilt's mercenaries. Walker negotiated a surrender

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<v Speaker 1>in eighteen fifty seven and sailed back to New York,

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<v Speaker 1>where he was tried and acquitted again for violating the

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<v Speaker 1>Neutrality Act. He wasted no time planning to take back Nicaragua,

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<v Speaker 1>but his first two comeback attempts were dead in the water,

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<v Speaker 1>literally in one, Walker's ship struck a coral reef off

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<v Speaker 1>Belize and had to be towed back to Mobile, Alabama

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<v Speaker 1>by the British Navy. Another ended with Walker arrested by

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<v Speaker 1>the US Navy when he tried to land in Costa Rica.

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<v Speaker 1>A Walker was undeterred, though, and thanks to his fame

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<v Speaker 1>in the newspapers, he had no trouble recruiting ninety one

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<v Speaker 1>men for another try. The plan was to land in

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<v Speaker 1>the Honduran port of Trahuia and marched south into Nicaragua,

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<v Speaker 1>but they met fierce resistance from the Honduran military, which

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<v Speaker 1>was aided by a British naval blockade that kept out

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<v Speaker 1>American reinforcements. With dozens of men wounded or dying from

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<v Speaker 1>tropical diseases and ammunition in short supply, a Walker was

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<v Speaker 1>convinced to surrender to the British commodore Norvel Salmon, who

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<v Speaker 1>assured Walker that he'd be spared the wrath of the

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<v Speaker 1>Honduran military. But that's not what happened. Martell put it

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<v Speaker 1>this way. The captain of the ship screwed him over.

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<v Speaker 1>In a matter of days, Walker was standing before a

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<v Speaker 1>Honduran firing squad. He was only thirty six years old

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<v Speaker 1>when he was executed in September eighteen sixty, and Filibustering

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<v Speaker 1>more or less died with him. Just months later, South

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<v Speaker 1>Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union,

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<v Speaker 1>and the nation was soon embroiled in its own bloody

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<v Speaker 1>civil war. Today's episode was based on the article William Walker,

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<v Speaker 1>the American mercenary who named himself President of Nicaragua on

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<v Speaker 1>HowStuffWorks dot Com, written by Dave Ruse. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com

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<v Speaker 1>and is produced by Tyler Klang. A four more podcast

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<v Speaker 1>that's from iHeartRadio. Visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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