Filibustering today ain't what it used to be

I was listening to a lecture about the real history of Aaron Burr, who often was accused of being a military "filibuster" and how the term differs today. I also became curious and wanted to learn the connection to "Manifest Destiny." I thought some of you might also be interested
---BBB

Filibuster (military)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Filibuster William Walker launched several expeditions into Latin America. For a time he ruled Nicaragua, although he was eventually seized by the U.S. Navy and returned to United States. In 1860, he was captured and executed in Honduras.A filibuster is an irregular military adventurer, especially one who engages in an unauthorized military expedition into a foreign country to foment or support a revolution. By extension the term also refers to the actions undertaken by a filibuster. The term filibuster and the variant "freebooter" are also applied more generally to individuals who attack foreign lands or interests for financial gain, without authority from their own government. "Freebooter" is the more familiar term in European English, where "Filibuster" will normally be interpreted as its derivative meaning as a legislative tactic, see reference above.

The term came into English from the Spanish filibustero (meaning pirate or buccaneer, and ultimately coming from the Dutch vrijbuiter [freebooter]) and was first applied to persons raiding Spanish colonies and ships in the West Indies, the most famous of which was Sir Francis Drake with his 1573 raid on Nombre de Dios. With the end of the era of Caribbean piracy in the early 18th century the term fell out of general currency.

The term was revived in the mid 19th century to describe the actions of Anglo-American adventurers who tried to take control of various Caribbean, Mexican, and Central-American territories by force of arms.

In the 1850s, William Walker attempted a filibustering campaign with a strategy involving his leading a private mercenary army. In 1853, he unsuccessfully attempted to stage an insurrection in the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California. Later, when a path through Lake Nicaragua was being considered as the possible site of a canal through Central America, he was hired as a mercenary by one of the factions in a civil war in Nicaragua. In 1856 he declared himself commander of the country's army and soon after President of the Republic. After attempting to take control of the rest of Central America and receiving no support from the U.S. government, he was defeated and eventually executed by the local authorities he tried to overthrow.

The three most prominent filibusters of that era were Walker, Narciso López, and John Quitman. Some would also apply the term to the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.[citation needed]

The actions of the filibusters is what led to the name being applied figuratively to the political act of filibustering in the U.S. Senate.

British North America

Although Manifest Destiny was primarily directed at territory inhabited by Mexicans and American Indians, the concept played a role in U.S. relations with British North America (later Canada) to the north. From the time of the American Revolution, the United States had expressed an interest in expelling the British Empire from North America. Failing to do that in both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, Americans came to accept the British presence on their northern border, but fears of possible British expansion elsewhere in North America were a recurrent theme of Manifest Destiny.

Before 1815

During the American Revolution and the early years of independence there were both peaceful and violent attempts to include Canada in the United States. The Revolutionaries hoped French Canadians would join the Thirteen Colonies in the effort to throw off the rule of the British Empire. Canada was invited to send representatives to the Continental Congress, and was pre-approved for joining the United States in the Articles of Confederation. In the Paris peace negotiations, Benjamin Franklin attempted to persuade Britain to cede Canada to the United States. Canada was invaded during the War of Independence, and again during the War of 1812. None of these measures proved successful in bringing Canada onto the side of the Thirteen Colonies.

These attempts to expel the British Empire from North America are sometimes cited as early examples of Manifest Destiny in action. Some scholars, however, including Canadian historian Reginald Stuart, argue that these events were different in character from those during the "Era of Manifest Destiny." Before 1815, writes Stuart, "what seemed like territorial expansionism actually arose from a defensive mentality, not from ambitions for conquest and annexation." From this point of view, Manifest Destiny was not a factor in the outbreak of the War of 1812, but rather emerged as a popular belief in the years after the war.[14]

Filibustering in Canada

Americans became increasingly accepting of the presence of British colonies to the north after the War of 1812, although Anglophobia continued to be widespread in the United States. Many Americans, especially those along the border, were hopeful that the Rebellions of 1837 would bring an end to the British Empire in North America and the establishment of a republican government in Canada. Of those events John O'Sullivan wrote: "If freedom is the best of national blessings, if self-government is the first of national rights, ... then we are bound to sympathise with the cause of the Canadian rebellion." Americans like O'Sullivan viewed the Rebellions as a reprise of the American Revolution, and?-unlike most Canadians at the time?-considered Canadians to be living under oppressive foreign rule.[15]

Despite this sympathy with the cause of the rebels, belief in Manifest Destiny did not result in widespread American reaction to the Rebellions, in part because the Rebellions were over so quickly. O'Sullivan, for his part, advised against U.S. intervention. Some American "filibusters"?-unauthorized volunteer soldiers often motivated by a belief in Manifest Destiny?-went to Canada to lend aid to the rebels, but President Martin Van Buren sent General Winfield Scott to arrest the filibusters and keep peace on the border. Some filibusters persisted in secretive groups known as the Hunters' Lodges, and tried to stir up war in order to "liberate" Canada?-the so-called "Patriot War" was one such event?-but American sentiment and official government policy were against these actions. The Fenian raids after the American Civil War shared some resemblances to the actions of the Hunters, but were otherwise unrelated to the idea of Manifest Destiny or any policy of American expansionism.[16]