Points in Nicaraguan History: William Walker

Many of you reading our blog might not know that much about Nicaraguan history, especially if you were taught in public school in the same decade as me. Therefore, I have decided to start a series of posts labeled Points in Nicaraguan History. These will not be chronological, but they will be dated. I think this is an important thing to understand, because before we can become involved in Nicaraguan politics (or even community organizing) we have to understand our past relations to understand the presence of our current relations. So I hope you enjoy these tidbits.


Our first point in history in a very interesting, and for me shocking, event. It deals with a very special man named William Walker. Our dear friend William hailed from the proud state of Tennessee. He was a college educated man and a self-declared filibuster. Meanwhile, in Nicaragua, the Conservatives and Liberals were going at it again, a classic rivalry continually splitting the nation. The Liberals saw a chance to achieve victory with our friend William Walker. In 1853 they invited him and his band of thugs (rounded up from San Francisco) to come and help them fight the Conservatives. The Liberals and Walker won, and two years later Walker usurped power from his Liberal friends, rigged a fraudulent election, and declared himself president. As president, some of the first things he decided to do were legalize slavery and declare English the national language. Needless to say this pissed off basically all Nicaraguans, and the agitation even spread to the neighboring countries in Latin America. They all pulled together in a group effort and at the battle of San Jancito on September 4, 1856, Walker was soundly beaten. On his exodus from the country, he and his men took their time to burn the city of Granada to the ground, leaving a sign stating “Aquí Fue Granada” (Here was Granada). Shortly after, he was captured and executed by rifle squad in Honduras. He kinda got what was coming.

I find this story to be great representation of the United States of America's Involvement in Nicaraguan politics. Don't worry folks! We don't go away any time soon, and next time perhaps I will relate another story of Nicaraguan-US relations. Until then, Adio!