Republic of Baja California

Common card · No. 459044

The Republic of Baja California, also known in Spanish as the República de Baja California, was a proposed state from 1853 to 1854, after American private military leader William Walker failed to invade Sonora from Arizona. Walker wanted to appropriate Sonora, and his claims had both the support of tycoons and government complacency in the United States. In November 1853, Walker set off with two hundred men to La Paz, where he captured the political head and proclaimed the independence of the Republic of Baja California, a state that never had recognition nor truly existed because Walker had neither full control of the peninsula nor the support of the population. He faced resistance from the Mexican army and from civilians, among them a group led by Antonio María Meléndrez. In spite of being repulsed from Ensenada and suffering the mutiny of his US troops, Walker declared himself president of the Republic of Sonora, which also included Baja California, and, like his successor, was not there...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Heraldry, Public domain