American Historical Ephemera & Photography, Featuring Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Broadsides, Ephemeral Americana & Historical Documents

12 x 18 7/8 in. letterpress broadside (small losses along old folds, some offsetting); framed to 16 1/8 x 22 7/8 in. (not examined out of frame). Signed in type by Patricio Rivas, President of the Republic. Later, unrelated pencil inscription dated 1886.

In the 1850s, Nicaragua served as a major thoroughfare for US shipping between the east and west coasts as the transcontinental railroads were not yet a reality. Ships would sail up the San Juan River from the Atlantic, cross Lake Nicaragua, then take stagecoaches at Rivas to the Pacific coast. In 1854, a civil war broke out in Nicaragua between the Legitimist (Conservative) Party based in Granada and the Democratic (Liberal) Party based in Léon. American William Walker (1824-1860), motivated by economic control of the shipping route as well as the concept of American "manifest destiny", contracted with the Democratic president Francisco Castellón to bring a group of "colonists" who were in reality mercenaries. Walker's expeditionary force defeated the Legitimist army. On 13 October 1855, he had conquered Granada, from where this decree was issued, and took effective control over the government, ruling as a shadow president through provision President Patricio Rivas, who's name is signed in type on this broadside.

This broadside was intended for an American audience to "encourage the immigration of persons of thrift and industry, to become settlers and inhabtants [sic]." It is unclear how many became "Colonists" as Walker's regime remained short-lived. Walker's government was recognized by President Franklin Pierce on 20 May 1856, however, Costa Rica and other armies took action against the "Filibusters". By 1 May 1857 Walker had capitulated.