Biography of William Walker, Yankee Imperialist

Biography of William Walker, Yankee Imperialist William Walker (May 8, 1824–September 12, 1860) was an American adventurer and soldier who served as president of Nicaragua from 1856 to 1857. He tried to gain control over most of Central America  but failed and was executed by firing squad in 1860 in Honduras. Fast Facts: William Walker Known For: Invading and taking over Latin American countries (known as filibustering)Also Known As: General Walker; the grey-eyed man of destinyBorn: May 8, 1824 in Nashville, TennesseeParents: James Walker, Mary NorvellDied: September 12, 1860 in Trujillo, HondurasEducation: University of Nashville, University of Edinburgh,  University of Heidelberg, University of PennsylvaniaPublished Works: The War in Nicaragua Early Life Born into a distinguished family in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 8, 1824, William Walker was a child genius. He graduated from the University of Nashville at the top of his class at the age of 14. By the time he was 25, he had a degree in medicine and another in law and was legally allowed to practice as both a doctor and lawyer. He also worked as a publisher and journalist. Walker was restless, taking a long trip to Europe and living in Pennsylvania, New Orleans, and San Francisco in his early years. Although he stood only 5-foot-2, Walker had a commanding presence and the charisma to spare. The Filibusters In 1850, Venezuelan-born Narciso Lopez led a group of mostly American mercenaries in an assault on Cuba. The goal was to take over the government and later attempt to become part of the United States. The state of Texas, which had broken off from Mexico a few years before, was an example of a region of a sovereign nation that had been taken over by Americans before gaining statehood. The practice of invading small countries or states with the intention of causing independence was known as filibustering. Although the U.S. government was in full expansionist mode by 1850, it frowned on filibustering as a way to expand the nations borders. Assault on Baja California Inspired by the examples of Texas and Lopez, Walker set out to conquer the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California, which at that time were sparsely populated. With only 45 men, Walker marched south and promptly captured La Paz, the  capital of Baja California. Walker renamed the state the Republic of Lower California, later to be replaced by the Republic of Sonora, declared himself president, and applied the laws of the State of Louisiana, which included legalized slavery. Back in the United States, word of his daring attack had spread. Most Americans thought Walkers project was a great idea. Men lined up to volunteer to join the expedition. Around this time, he got the nickname the gray-eyed man of destiny. Defeat in Mexico By early 1854, Walker had been reinforced by 200 Mexicans who believed in his vision and another 200 Americans from San Francisco who wanted to get in on the ground floor of the new republic. But they had few supplies, and discontent grew. The Mexican government, which could not send a large army to crush the invaders, nevertheless was able to muster up enough of a force to skirmish with Walker and his men a couple of times and keep them from getting too comfortable in La Paz. In addition, the ship that had carried him to Baja California sailed off against his orders, taking many of his supplies with it. In early 1854, Walker decided to roll the dice and march on the strategic city of Sonora. If he could capture it, more volunteers and investors would join the expedition. But many of his men deserted, and by May he had only 35 men left. He crossed the border and surrendered to American forces there, never having reached Sonora. On Trial Walker was tried in San Francisco in federal court on charges of violating United States neutrality laws and policies. Popular sentiment was still with him, however, and he was acquitted of all charges by a jury after only eight minutes of deliberating. He returned to his law practice, convinced that he would have succeeded with more men and supplies. Nicaragua Within a year, Walker was back in action. Nicaragua was a rich, green nation that had one great advantage: in the days before the  Panama Canal, most shipping went through Nicaragua along a route that led up the San Juan River from the Caribbean, across Lake Nicaragua and then overland to the port of Rivas. Nicaragua was in the throes of a civil war between the cities of Granada and Leon to determine which city would have more power. Walker was approached by the Leon faction- which was losing- and soon rushed to Nicaragua with some 60 well-armed men. Upon landing, he was reinforced with another 100 Americans and almost 200 Nicaraguans. His army marched on Granada and captured it in October 1855. Because he was already considered supreme general of the army, he had no trouble declaring himself president. In May 1856, U.S. President  Franklin Pierce  officially recognized Walkers government. Defeat in Nicaragua Walker had made many enemies in his conquest. Greatest among them was perhaps  Cornelius Vanderbilt, who controlled an international shipping empire. As president, Walker revoked Vanderbilts rights to ship through Nicaragua. Vanderbilt was enraged and sent soldiers to oust him. Vanderbilts men were joined by those of other Central American nations, chiefly Costa Rica, who feared that Walker would take over their countries. Walker had overturned Nicaraguas anti-slavery laws and made English the official language, which angered many Nicaraguans. In early 1857 the Costa Ricans invaded, supported by Guatemala,  Honduras, and El Salvador, as well as Vanderbilts money and men. Walkers army was defeated at the Second Battle of Rivas, and he was forced to return once again to the United States. Honduras Walker was greeted as a hero in the U.S., particularly in the South. He wrote a book about his adventures, resumed his law practice, and began making plans to try again to take Nicaragua, which he still believed to be his. After a few false starts, including one in which U.S. authorities captured him as he set sail, he landed near Trujillo, Honduras, where he was captured by the British Royal Navy. Death The British already had important colonies in Central American in British Honduras, now Belize, and the Mosquito Coast, in present-day Nicaragua, and they did not want Walker stirring up rebellions. They turned him over to Honduran authorities, who executed him by firing squad on Sept. 12, 1860. It is reported that in his final words he asked for clemency for his men, assuming the responsibility of the Honduras expedition himself. He was 36 years old. Legacy Walkers filibusters had a significant impact on southerners interested in maintaining slave-owning territory; even after his death, his example inspired the Confederacy. Central American countries, by contrast, saw their defeat of Walker and his armies as a source of pride. In Costa Rica, April 11 is celebrated as a national holiday to commemorate Walkers defeat at Rivas. Walker has also been the subject of several books and two movies. Sources The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. â€Å"William Walker.† Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, 1 Mar. 2019.Levrier-Jones, George. â€Å"Man of Destiny: William Walker and the Conquest of Nicaragua.† History Is Now Magazine, 24 Apr. 2018.Norvell, John Edward, How Tennessee Adventurer William Walker became Dictator of Nicaragua in 1857: The Norvell Family origins of the Grey-Eyed Man of Destiny, The Middle Tennessee Journal of Genealogy and History, Vol XXV, No.4, Spring 2012

Profile of the Roman Emperor Nero

Profile of the Roman Emperor Nero Nero was the last of the Julio-Claudians, that most important family of Rome that produced the first 5 emperors (Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero). Nero is famed for watching while Rome burned, then using the devastated area for his own luxurious palace, and then blaming the conflagration on the Christians, whom he persecuted. While his predecessor, Claudius, was accused of letting slaves guide his policy, Nero was accused of letting the women in his life, especially his mother, guide his. This wasnt considered an improvement. Family and Upbringing of Nero Nero Claudius Caesar (originally Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus) was the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger, sister of the future emperor Caligula, in Antium, on December 15, A.D. 37. Domitius died when Nero was 3. Caligula banished his sister, and so Nero grew up with his paternal aunt, Domitia Lepida, who chose a barber (tonsor) and a dancer (saltator) for Neros tutors. When Claudius became emperor after Caligula, Neros inheritance was returned, and when Claudius married Agrippina, a proper tutor, Seneca, was hired for young Nero. Neros Career Nero might have had a successful career as an entertainer, but that was not to be at least officially. Under Claudius, Nero pleaded cases in the forum and was given opportunities to ingratiate himself with the Roman people. When Claudius died, Nero was 17. He presented himself to the palace guard, who pronounced him emperor. Nero then went to the ​Senate, which gave him the appropriate imperial titles. As emperor, Nero served as consul 4 times. Compassionate Elements of Neros Reign Nero reduced heavy taxes and fees paid to informers. He gave salaries to impoverished senators. He introduced certain fire-preventing and fire-fighting innovations. Suetonius says Nero devised a method of forgery prevention. Nero also replaced public banquets with grain distribution. His response to people criticizing his artistic skills was mild. Some Charges Against Nero Some of Neros infamous acts, which led to rebellion in the provinces, included inflicting punishments on Christians (and blaming them for the devastating fire in Rome), sexual perversions, marauding and murdering Roman citizens, building the extravagant Domus Aurea Golden House, charging citizens with treason to confiscate their property, murdering his mother and aunt, and causing (or at least performing while watching) the burning of Rome. Nero gained notoriety for inappropriately performing. It is said that as he died, Nero lamented that the world was losing an artist. Death of Nero Nero committed suicide before he could be captured and flogged to death. Revolts in Gaul and Spain had promised to bring Neros reign to an end. Almost all his staff deserted him. Nero tried to kill himself, but required the assistance of his scribe, Epaphrodite, to stab himself in the neck. Nero died at the age of 32. Ancient Sources on Nero Tacitus describes the reign of Nero, but his Annals end before the last 2 years of Neros reign. Cassius Dio (LXI-LXIII) and Suetonius also provide biographies of Nero. Tacitus on Nero and the Fire Tacitus on the Modifications Nero Made to Building After the Fire of Rome (15.43)... The buildings themselves, to a certain height, were to be solidly constructed, without wooden beams, of stone from Gabii or Alba, that material being impervious to fire. And to provide that the water which individual license had illegally appropriated, might flow in greater abundance in several places for the public use, officers were appointed, and everyone was to have in the open court the means of stopping a fire. Every building, too, was to be enclosed by its own proper wall, not by one common to others. These changes which were liked for their utility, also added beauty to the new city. Some, however, thought that its old arrangement had been more conducive to health, inasmuch as the narrow streets with the elevation of the roofs were not equally penetrated by the suns heat, while now the open space, unsheltered by any shade, was scorched by a fiercer glow.​​ -Â  Annals of Tacitus Tacitus on Neros Blaming the Christians (15.44).... But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mo ckery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car.​ -Â  Annals of Tacitus