Tink told us about the “Filibuster” wars in the mid-19th century, and Dr. William Walker was one of the “filibusters.” Tink first talked about Manifest Destiny. To some it meant all of the Americas including South America and Canada. Some Americans wanted to capture Mexico and the Caribbean, including Cuba – these were the filibusters. William Walker was from Nashville, TN. He was very smart – began college at age 12, then traveled to Europe and received medical degree at age 18. Later he ended upin in California during the gold rush. At that time, people were trying to get across Central America to the Pacific Ocean, and one of the places where people crossed was in Nicaragua – Cornelius Vanderbilt was involved in this venture. Walker went west to San Francisco and worked for a newspaper. He later decided to invade the Baja California territory and Sonora, and declared himself president. The Mexicans pursued him. He was forced to retreat and then got arrested for filibustering – jury set him free. Walker then started looking at Central America. There was a civil war going in the area at that time. Walker took a group of men down to Central America and took over Nicaragua and installed a new government. President Polk recognized this regime as the official government of Nicaragua. Walker was chased out a couple of times and eventually was executed in Honduras. This war cemented the nationalism of the central American countries. Tink showed us various pictures related to this time period.