William Walker was born in Tennessee in the year of 1824 and had graduated from the University of Nashville at age 14. Inspired by money, power and the desire to maintain slavery in the south, Walker had set off on a journey to conquer the Mexican states Sonora and Baja California; a year later he would take control over Nicaragua.
Walker along with about 40 men had conquered Sonora and Baja California (lower CA) by capturing the capital of Baja California. He then renamed Baja California the Republic of Lower California and transferred the laws of the state of Louisiana to this Republic. These laws had included the right to slavery, which intrigued many southerners and inspired them to join his expedition. However, Mexico made it very hard for Walker to settle there as their constant small uprisings appeared in an attempt of protest. As a result, he sailed back to the United States and then to Nicaragua for militarized purposes. When Walker arrived in Nicaragua, Nicaragua was in the midst of a civil war between its cities, Granada and Leon. Walker had assisted the Leon faction in the war, by supplying armed men. As supreme general of the army, they captured Granada and he declared himself president of Nicaragua. While president, Walker had closed off the Vanderbilt’s (leading trade and industrialist) right to ship through Nicaragua and had made English the primary language. This along with the fear that Walker would continue to conquer other countries, caused battles between Walker and Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, and more. Walker was finally defeated at the Second Battle of Rivas where he was required to return to the US.
Although William Walker was unable to maintain political control over the territories he had captured, he had inspired many slave-owners to fight to maintain their property since Walker himself was motivated to conquer these states of Mexico in order to promote slavery along with his own power.
Written by Ragan Krames, P4
I liked how this blog was ordered in a "story of his life" kind of way. I didn't know anything about this man until reading this and now I wish that we had done more about him class because he has an interesting story. Next time though, I suggest that you let the reader know the theme of the article early in the paragraph so they are more intrigued to read it.
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