#william walker

[tvgods]

the.capture.s03e05.simon.says.

[jurakan]

¿Dato curioso por favor?

Today You Learned about filibustering. You know that thing where someone in Congress keeps talking? Yeah, not that, because the word 'filibuster' used to mean something else. It used to mean something entirely different. It used to mean: an American going to illegally invade another country with the purpose of setting up an illegal colony.

So Today You Learned about the absolute nut (derogatory) known as William Walker:

William Walker's (born 1824) day job was a journalist, but one day he just decided he would become a filibuster. I mean, I'm making it sound like he was perfectly stable and then one day went crazy, but the guy did fight in several duels--he was wounded in one--before taking his new career to try and go invade other countries.

Why would he do that? Well... for one, slavery was becoming a contentious issue in many states, and he thought it'd be swell idea if he conquered new territories for the US and made them into slave states. Which is odd, as neither he nor his family had slaves, but he apparently decided that slavery was a cool thing after making friends with southern activists and politicians that wanted it to remain as an institution.

The US also was in the grip of a crazy thing called 'Manifest Destiny', which held that the US was destined to reach from coast to coast, and possibly all of the Americas. And sadly, like today, many Americans back then viewed Latin America as an uncultured backwater that they had every right to go stomp over if they had the men and guns.

So William Walker decided to do that. Thing is: he was bad at it.

First he tried to request the Mexico give him a colony. Mexico didn't go for that, so Walker invaded Mexico. Well, what was then Mexican territory in California, grabbing about fifty men and capturing La Paz. It didn't last though, and he ended up abandoning the project after a few months with the Mexican government on his tail. He was tried, but acquitted (there were many people who liked the idea of filibustering, even though it was plainly illegal).

Then he invaded Nicaragua. There was already a civil war going on at the time, and he actually managed to take over the country! Except an American taking over, with the explicit intention of starting a white supremacist state (no, really--he made a statement about reinstating slavery and eradicating mixed-race people), was very unpopular with the neighboring countries, and really, some other internationals across the ocean, so they formed a coalition that threw him out--even though the US government (or President Franklin Pierce, at least) considered him the legitimate government. Before he left, he ordered his men to destroy his capital city, because if he can't have it, no one can.

Real class act, this guy.

Having tried and failed twice to take over a country, he tried again in Honduras in 1860, at the urging of British people living there wanting their own English-speaking government. The British Navy, however, had colonies in the region, and thought Walker trying to take over was quite obviously Bad News (duh), and so arrested him and handed him over to the Honduran government.

Walker thought he'd get away again as he did before, but really, Honduras was sick of his crap, tried him, and found him guilty of piracy and 'filibusterism'. He objected to the accusations, as he didn't do his crimes at sea, and 'filibusterism' isn't a crime on the books, but Honduras didn't care. Walker was executed by firing squad on September 12, 1860.

I only heard about this guy recently, from a mostly unrelated book about the history of words (and where 'filibuster' came from was part of that). But GEEZ, WHAT THE EFF?! I'd never heard of this guy that I can think of, and he was absolutely nuts. An absolute failure of a man a racist douchebag, and he went around invading other countries for kicks. It's absolutely wild.

But while I'm not a fan of capital punishment, the ending to his story feels so... karmic, in a way? He kept doing international crimes with the idea that he'd get away with it all if he failed, and then the people h was planning to oppress got wind of it and showed him that no, you don't get to do whatever you want without consequences, people are going to get tired of your warmongering and shoot you.

Absolute nutbar.

[emma-dennehy-presents]

Walker 1987

Touching on both William Walker's filibusters of the 1850s and the US's military's "exercises" in Nicaragua during the 1980s, the film seems especially poignant and timely for a watch/rewatch right now. Current US intervention in nations like Venezuela and Argentina are the beginning of tales we all know too well.

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"... ALEX COX, TELLS THE STORY OF NINETEENTH--CENTURY AMERICAN ADVENTURER WILLIAM WALKER..."

PICS INFO: Mega spotlight on assorted film stills (and two gifs) from the 1987 historical Weird Western film, "Walker," directed by Alex Cox and written by Rudy Wurlitzer. The film stars Ed Harris as William Walker, the American filibuster who invaded and made himself president of Nicaragua.

FILM: "Walker"

DIRECTOR: Alex Cox

SCREENPLAY: Rudy Wurlitzer

PRODUCED: Lorenzo O'Brien, Angel Flores Marini

CINEMATOGRAPHY: David Bridges

DISTRIBUTED: Universal Pictures

RELEASE DATE: December 4, 1987

OVERVIEW: "A hallucinatory biopic that breaks all cinematic conventions, "Walker," from British director Alex Cox, tells the story of nineteenth-century American adventurer William Walker (Ed Harris), who abandoned a series of careers in law, politics, journalism, and medicine to become a soldier of fortune and, for many months, the dictator of Nicaragua. Made with mad abandon and political acuity—and the support of the Sandinista army and government during the contra war—the film uses this true tale as a satirical attack on American ultra-patriotism and a freewheeling condemnation of “manifest destiny.” Featuring a powerful score by Joe Strummer and a performance of intense, repressed rage by Harris, Walker remains one of Cox’s most daring works."

-- CRITERION COLLECTION, c. February 2008

Sources: https://denniscooperblog.com/spotlight-on-rudy-wurlitzer-the-drop-edge-of-yonder-2008-2, Criterion Collection, Wikipedia, various, etc...

[ltwilliammowett]

Set of 3 original silverplate photographs depicting hard hat diver William Walker in full dress ready to descend into the murky depths surrounding the foundation of Winchester Cathedral circa 1910 or earlier. 

[aborddelimpala]

Liam Walker Appreciation Day | @walker-extended-universe

[missminutes-rpg]

[omercifulheaves]

Walker (1989)