The Republic of Sonora

The Republic of Sonora began in 1853 when a little over 200 men lead by the filibuster (freebooter to others) William Walker. It was to be all of Baja and Sonora with white leaders. Now Walker was forced out due to the strong response of Mexico, combined with lack of supplies. Yet his actions were rather popular in America. In fact when he was tried for starting an illegal war his jury aquitted him in under ten minutes.

Now WI Walker got his act together and figured out funding, supplies and even tried to train his "army" before heading off to take over lands in Mexico?
 

Keenir

Banned
The Republic of Sonora began in 1853 when a little over 200 men lead by the filibuster (freebooter to others) William Walker. It was to be all of Baja and Sonora with white leaders. Now Walker was forced out due to the strong response of Mexico, combined with lack of supplies. Yet his actions were rather popular in America. In fact when he was tried for starting an illegal war his jury aquitted him in under ten minutes.

Now WI Walker got his act together and figured out funding, supplies and even tried to train his "army" before heading off to take over lands in Mexico?

if he can make a stable (or even semi-stable) nation, you will have accomplished something formerly thought impossible.

I look forward to seeing you accomplish this. please continue.
 
Would we see him simply keep it as his own nation? If so might we see a conflict of interests with the United States? If not might we see the US annex the Republic in much the same way as Texas? Might we see a Second Mexican-American War?
 
Around that time didn't America just buy some land from Mexico in the Gadsen Purchase? I think Santa Anna would be pretty pissed if a gang of gringo cowboys started their own nation within his own territory.

I also highly doubt that they will succeed without American intervention - two hundred soldiers versus thousands of trained Mexican troops ("Madness? This is Tuscon!"). A final battle like this however could easily turn into the next Alamo, and Walker becoming a Custer-like figure in American folklore. Eventually if American help does come and they do win Sonora wold probably become another state. The US wasn't really into states not joining them (see Vermont, Texas, and Utah for OTL examples)
 
Last edited:
Just saying. An independent Sonora wouldn't last much longer. It would eventually be re-incorporated into Mexico or annexed by the US.
 
Just saying. An independent Sonora wouldn't last much longer. It would eventually be re-incorporated into Mexico or annexed by the US.

Perhaps, but they could do what Thailand did with Britain and France and play the U.S. and Mexico against each other to prevent it.

If they could get British support that'd help them to.
 
Perhaps, but they could do what Thailand did with Britain and France and play the U.S. and Mexico against each other to prevent it.

If they could get British support that'd help them to.

Yet Sonora is not Siam. An independent Sonora would be the creation of some filibuster who planned on having it annexed to the United States. It's different.
 
Yet Sonora is not Siam. An independent Sonora would be the creation of some filibuster who planned on having it annexed to the United States. It's different.

It does'nt mean it has to though, if Walker dies and you get a government that, while being friendly with the U.S., does'nt want to join, then it's entirely possible.

Sure the U.S. will be a little pissy for a few years, but after awhile people will forget about any intentions it had on joining and go on with life.
 
It does'nt mean it has to though, if Walker dies and you get a government that, while being friendly with the U.S., does'nt want to join, then it's entirely possible.

Sure the U.S. will be a little pissy for a few years, but after awhile people will forget about any intentions it had on joining and go on with life.

That would mean a native Hispanic-dominated government because under a Walker government, you're bound to have white settlers come flooding in and that usually is a precursor to American annexation as in California and Tejas.
 
As a side note Walker tended to invite slave holders and ex-soldiers to armies. Walker tried Sonora, Honduras, and a few other nations before he died. So assuming Sonora lasted it would be a slave holding area.
 
Originally the Gadsden purchase was to buy Baja California, Sonora, and more of the Mexican Northwest, but Santa Anna was put off by Gadsden's manner and the deeds of Walker. The success of Walker might give the Gadsden purchase more support from the South than OTL, and Gadsden probably would have gotten what he wanted originally.

So we could see an American Baja California, Chihuahua, and Sonora if the South play their cards right, though something will be done to ensure that there is a free-slave state balance.
 
Ok, so the most likely scenario would be for this "Republic" to be annexed into the US in the near future. So, the US would have borders reaching further into Mexico, including the Baja peninsula, and parts of north-west Mexico. The most likely scenario that I can see is US-Mexico relations becoming even cooler then they were OTL. I could see a gradual further encroachment of Mexican boarders as the years go by.

On the other side of the picture, the US would not only have grown, but also now has much more significant Chicano population. With these additional increases, they would be much less of a minority, and would constitute a decent portion of the population. This in turn would cause more ethnic strife at first, but would probably cause less problems later on. I wonder how this would influnce later US actions in Cuba and the Philippines? With the size of Mexico steadily decreasing decade after decade through annexation, I could see Manifest Destiny taking a shot into the arm, especially toward Mexico. The Northern provinces of Mexico were always extremely difficult to for the central government to control. I could see the US sending troops for "security reasons" into border regions during times of Mexican civil war or revolution.
copy.png
favicon.ico
favicon.ico
 
Top