The Invasion of Nicaragua

[TheDarkKnight]

I hope with this essay to shed light on a little known event from American History: The 1850's Invasion of Nicaragua.

The Invasion of Nicaragua

In the 1850s, a young American named William Walker had a dream to build a new nation in Central America. Motivated by this dream, Walker invaded Nicaragua in 1855 in the midst of the nation’s civil war to take advantage of the weakened state of the nation. Through deceit as well as military genius, William Walker would realize part of his dream and conquer the nation in very little time. He used his newly self-appointed position of President to Americanize the country, in hope of bringing immigrants to the area as well as fostering support from the nearest power, United States government. Back in the United States, and completely unknown to Walker, businessmen Charles Morgan and Cornelius Kingston Garrison had devious plans of their own: to ruin their rival and former employer Cornelius Vanderbilt. They would soon realize that Walker could be the one that could make their plan a reality. It is clear that William Walker, as well as the nation of Nicaragua, were but pawns in the rivalry between Vanderbilt and his former employees, and that Walker’s plans to create a Central American empire were doomed to failure.

Cornelius Vanderbilt’s Scheme

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

An older Vanderbilt

Cornelius Vanderbilt envisioned a new, safe route from the East Coast of the United States to the ever expanding West Coast. Knowing that he could profit immensely from a faster, and cheaper, route than the widely popular Panama route, he proposed, and was later granted, a charter to use the unique geography of Nicaragua to create this route. Vanderbilt’s plan was to have passengers arrive on the eastern coast of Nicaragua and then continue to Lake Nicaragua up the San Juan River. Although for Vanderbilt’s proposed route a twelve mile canal would need to be cut from the lake to the nearby ocean. Until this could be a done, a temporary route would be used after the lake, taking the passengers to the ocean by carriage ride, where they would then be picked up by another ship and taken to the West Coast. According to Vanderbilt, he could “make money at three hundred dollars [a head]” using this shorter, safer route. In addition to passenger fare, Vanderbilt also hoped to secure the profitable mail route as well. Vanderbilt’s ingenious and profitable idea was approved by both the United States and Nicaraguan governments.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The planned route of the canal through Nicaragua

The Rivalry


The Accessory Transit Company was established by Vanderbilt to fulfill his goal of creating a passage through Nicaragua. However, in a few years time, C.K. Garrison and Charles Morgan, two of Vanderbilt’s trusted employees in the Accessory Transit Company would betray Vanderbilt and force him out of the company. Vanderbilt swore that he would ruin the pair for their actions . He established a competing company that used the Panama route, and charged significantly less than Morgan and Garrison’s company. Eventually, through his new business as well as the lawsuits he brought against Morgan and Garrison, the shares of the ATC began to fall in price, allowing Vanderbilt to buy up stock as the stockholders fled. It soon became clear that Vanderbilt’s plan for revenge could very well come to fruition, and within a year, it would. Although Vanderbilt’s plot was succeeding, one young man from Tennessee by the name of William Walker would soon ruin all of Vanderbilt’s work.

A Pawn

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

William Walker, professional filibuster

While the feud between Vanderbilt and his rivals was intensifying, William Walker had been quite busy with his own plans. Upon learning of the civil war tearing apart Nicaragua, he came to the conclusion that this was an amazing opportunity to bring a strong American leadership to the region , with Walker as the head of that leadership. He reached Nicaragua in June 1855 with a few dozen “colonists” and managed to secure a position in the so called Democratic Army. Within a few short months, Walker realized part of his goals, and captured Grenada, the capital city of the Legitimistas (the “Legitimate” government). The civil war was almost complete, but Walker’s plans for Nicaragua were just unfolding. Walker now controlled the nation through a puppet head of state. Although Walker was unaware of it, the war he raged in Nicaragua aided Cornelius Vanderbilt greatly due to the deaths of ATC passengers at the hands of the Legitimista soldiers lowered the stock prices of the company.

Garrison and Morgan’s Revenge

Unfortunately, the help that Walker was inadvertently giving to Vanderbilt would soon turn against the old man. Upon losing control of “their” company to Vanderbilt, Garrison and Morgan would contact William Walker with a proposition. The partners would provide a shipping lane to and from Nicaragua and the United States in exchange for the Nicaraguan government’s revocation of the Transit Company’s contract, and provide Garrison and Morgan with the right to operate the route . Walker immediately liked this idea, and as he had no interest in the potential financial rewards of this agreement, he could concentrate on exactly what the partners were offering him: an efficient way to build and maintain his nation and eventually his empire. He accepted the proposal, and soon, Vanderbilt would find that the company he had fought so long and so hard to regain was now worthless. This act by Walker would prove to be his undoing in Central America.

Vanderbilt’s Victory

Cornelius Vanderbilt had been outsmarted, but he was not defeated. He swiftly made an offer to assist the President of Costa Rica, Juan Mora, financially in overthrowing the new Nicaraguan government, on the basis that Walker would not stop at Nicaragua, and that he would conquer the rest of the region . Soon other nations followed suit and formed an alliance that would slowly make progress against Walker and his American forces. Through casualties, desertion, and disease, Walker slowly lost control of his nation, and within several months, Walker surrendered to Commander Charles Davis of the U.S. Navy , who had been “urged” by Vanderbilt and the Secretary of State to bring an end to the conflict . With the fall of William Walker, Morgan and Garrison lost their contact with Nicaragua. Morgan offered a deal to Vanderbilt to cease the feud, which would be accepted with much satisfaction . Walker had not given up on his dreams, however, and he invaded Honduras in the summer of 1860, hoping to rally support and invade Nicaragua again. He was soon forced to surrender to Royal Marines, who promptly handed him over to the Honduran government. On September 12, 1860, a little over five years after coming to Nicaragua, William Walker was executed by firing squad.

The Involvement of America

Nicaragua was important to the expansion of the United States, especially the western borders. With the quicker and safer route possible through Nicaragua, the West Coast could maintain more efficient contact, as well as shipping, with the rest of the nation. The squabble between three businessmen with a young adventurer from Tennessee stuck in the middle forced the abandonment of the Nicaraguan route. The country of Panama would later be the area selected to receive the Central American canal. During the nineteenth century, the United States of America was manipulated into a difficult situation, with the need of a new route to the West Coast and the desire to expand their Central American territories. Three wealthy American businessmen and one ambitious, young conqueror demonstrated to American and Nicaraguan citizens the power they had to manipulate the actions and policies of nations.


Source used:



Dando-Collins, Stephen. Tycoon’s War: How Cornelius Vanderbilt Invaded a Country to Overthrow America’s Most Famous Military Adventurer. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2008.

Further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Walker_(filibuster)

[Farnan]

It was not an invasion by the US, but by a Filibuster, a private individual who led a mercenary army. He was actually arrested by the United States multiple times.

[Ketnix]

It was not an invasion by the US, but by a Filibuster, a private individual who led a mercenary army. He was actually arrested by the United States multiple times.

And with that one sentence, you have crushed him.

[Farnan]

If you want to see a case of real US involvment in Nicaragua you can see it later on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...n_of_Nicaragua

[TheDarkKnight]

Farnan, could you please elaborate? I don't see how I made it sound like anyone other than Walker was the party that invaded Nicaragua.

[StealthFox]

An interesting read and a part of history I'm not familiar with. Was this for an academic assignment? Do you have sources and footnotes?(I know these can be a pain to copy over to a forum.)I always like to see illustrations/photos, but if you're writing for an academic assignment you need to make sure they are actually illustrating a point and not just taking up space. Although on many occasions I used photos to fill up pages for papers. You should also provide a caption stating what the illustration is. It's also a good idea to mention it in the body text to back up your argument(s). (Maybe you already know all of this though. )

There are improvements you could make to your writing, mainly to vary your sentence structure and phrasing, but the main thing I'd like to comment on is the intro. Crafting a good introduction that provides a hook for the reader and at the same time provides a clear thesis is an art, and unfortunately, I've noticed that many teachers fail to teach students this art form. So, I've made a few suggestions for you below.

In the 1850s, a young American named William Walker had a dream to build a new nation in Central America. Motivated by this dream, Walker invaded Nicaragua in 1855 in the midst of the nation’s civil war to take advantage of the weakened state of the nation. (Awkward phrasing - too many prepositional phrases) Through deceit as well as military genius, William Walker would realize part of his dream and conquer the nation in very little time. He used his newly self-appointed position of president to Americanize the country, in hope of bringing immigrants to the area as well as fostering support from the nearest power, the United States government. Back in the United States, and completely unknown to Walker, businessmen Charles Morgan and Cornelius Kingston Garrison had devious plans of their own: to ruin their rival and former employer Cornelius Vanderbilt. (This is really too much info for an intro, and only causes confusion-should be cut to something more concise as part of a thesis or placed in the body) They would soon realize that Walker could be the one that could make their plan a reality. It is clear that William Walker, as well as the nation of Nicaragua, were but pawns in the rivalry between Vanderbilt and his former employees, and that Walker’s plans to create a Central American empire were doomed to failure. (Your intro and thesis are a bit weak and could be clearer. I'm not sure if you're going to be discussing Walkers invasion of Nicaragua, the rivalry between Morgan, Garrison, and Vanderbilt, both, or something else entirely. It could be rewritten to something like this:

In the late nineteenth century, ideas of American exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny ruled the minds of great thinkers, politicians, and even young children. Americans believed that the United States should rule North America from coast to coast and that it was their sacred duty to bring liberty and democracy to others around the world. One young American, William Walker, perhaps influences by this ideology, dreamed of building his own nation. Motivated by this dream, Walker invaded Nicaragua in 1855, taking advantage of the chaos caused by a turbulent civil war.