History of the United States I / Unit 12 USH1 1717 short lesson, about 20 seconds
William Walker
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The idea
William Walker, born in Tennessee, conquered Nicaragua in eighteen fifty-five with about sixty mercenaries, having earlier invaded Mexico and named his conquest the Republic of Sonora.
In practice
Nicaragua's appeal being twelve miles of land separating the Pacific from Lake Nicaragua and its Atlantic-draining river.
Where people slip
Cornelius Vanderbilt controlled the Nicaraguan shipping traffic, and Walker's adventure upset his business while exciting proslavery southerners.
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