Filibuster

Filibuster
   A term derived from Dutch ( vrijbuiter ) and Spanish ( filibustero ) expressions for “free booty.” It was commonly applied during the nineteenth century to the activities of American entrepreneur-adventurers who undertook small-scale military operations and insurrectionist activities against the governments of Latin American countries, often with the goal of drawing the United States into the conflict to thereby secure their own personal political or commercial interests.
   Among the more notorious filibusterers was William Walker (1824–1860), who, after leading a failed filibustering expedition to California in 1853, in 1855 exploited the outbreak of a civil war in Nicaragua to divide the country and establish himself as dictator. Walker, a Southerner, promptly issued a decree opening Nicaragua to slavery. A coalition of neighboring republics ousted him in 1857, but he immediately organized a new expedition. By this time he had become an embarrassment to U.S. foreign policy, specifically regarding the sensitive and strategically important question of the construction and control of a future interoceanic canal across the Central American isthmus. His expedition was therefore apprehended by the U.S. Navy. An expedition to Honduras in the 1860s finally saw him captured, convicted, and executed. Despite the common usage of the term in the United States, filibustering was hardly a uniquely American activity. In terms of its ambition and consequences, the Jameson Raid against the government of the Transvaal in 1896 is among the more spectacular examples.
   See also <>, <>, <>.
   FURTHER READING:
    Danziger, Christopher. The Jameson Raid. Cape Town: Macdonald South Africa, 1978;
    Stephanson, Anders. Manifest Destiny: American Expansionism and the Empire of Right. New York: Hill & Wang, 1995.
   CARL CAVANAGH HODGE

Encyclopedia of the Age of Imperialism, 1800–1914. 2014.

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  • filibuster — fil·i·bus·ter 1 / fi lə ˌbəs tər/ n: the use of extreme dilatory tactics in an attempt to delay or prevent action esp. in a legislative assembly; also: an instance of this practice filibuster 2 vb tered, ter·ing vi: to engage in a filibuster vt:… …   Law dictionary

  • filibuster — FILIBÚSTER s.n. Practică constând în rostirea de discursuri interminabile, folosite în Congresul S.U.a. de cei care încercau să împiedice adoptarea unor legi nedorite. [cf. engl. fleeboster, germ. Filibuster]. Trimis de LauraGellner, 25.03.2005.… …   Dicționar Român

  • filibuster — [fil′i bus΄tər] n. [Sp filibustero < Fr flibustier, earlier fribustier < MDu vrijbuiter, FREEBOOTER] 1. an adventurer who engages in unauthorized warfare against a country with which his own country is at peace; specif., any of the 19th… …   English World dictionary

  • Filibuster — Fil i*bus*ter, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Fillibustered}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Filibustering}.] 1. To act as a filibuster, or military freebooter. Bartlett. [1913 Webster] 2. To delay legislation, by dilatory motions or other artifices. [political cant or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • filibuster — ► NOUN ▪ prolonged speaking which obstructs progress in a legislative assembly. ► VERB ▪ obstruct legislation with a filibuster. ORIGIN French flibustier, first applied to pirates who pillaged the Spanish colonies in the West Indies, influenced… …   English terms dictionary

  • Filibuster — Fil i*bus ter, n. [Sp. flibuster, flibustero, corrupted fr. E. freebooter. See {Freebooter}.] A lawless military adventurer, especially one in quest of plunder; a freebooter; originally applied to buccaneers infesting the Spanish American coasts …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Filibuster — (span.), soviel wie Flibustier …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • filibuster — (n.) 1580s, flibutor pirate, probably ultimately from Du. vrijbuiter freebooter, used of pirates in the West Indies as Sp. filibustero and Fr. flibustier, either or both of which gave the word to Amer.Eng. (see FREEBOOTER (Cf. freebooter)). Used… …   Etymology dictionary

  • filibuster — filibùster m DEFINICIJA v. flibustijer …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • filibuster — [n] obstruction of progress, especially in verbal argument delay, hindrance, holding the floor*, interference, opposition, postponement, procrastination, stonewalling*, talkathon*; concept 298 Ant. catalyst, impetus, incentive, progression …   New thesaurus

  • Filibuster — A filibuster, or talking out a bill , is a form of obstruction in a legislature or other decision making body. An attempt is made to infinitely extend debate upon a proposal in order to delay the progress or completely prevent a vote on the… …   Wikipedia

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