Date of Award
7-1964
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
History
First Advisor
Dr. Avery O. Craven
Second Advisor
Dr. Albert Castel
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
The Background: 1846-1850
The term "Fillibuster" has a different connotation in modern times than that of a hundred years ago. Today according to The American College Dictionary, the term means, "a member of a minority in a legislative assembly who resorts to irregular or obstructive tactics to prevent the adoption of a measure generally favored, or to force a decision almost unanimously disliked." The dictionary also gives the older definition, which will be used in this paper. This meaning is "an irregular military adventurer; a freebooter or buccaneer."
The purpose of this thesis is to describe a number of filibustering attempts in the period from 1850 to 1860. There were three attempts by Narciso Lopez to take the island of Cuba; three tries by William Walker to establish a dictatorship over the country of Nicaragua; and finally there was the dream of the Knights of the Golden Circle to secure control over Mexico.
Recommended Citation
Speiran, Keith Ross, "Southern Expansion in the Caribbean Region, 1850-1860" (1964). Masters Theses. 3908.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/3908