George Augustus Frederic II
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George Augustus Frederic II was King of the Mosquito Nation from 1845 to 1864. He ruled at a time when the kingdom was subject to international rivalry.


Early life

He was born around 1833, the son of King
Robert Charles Frederic Robert Charles Frederic (also spelled Frederick in his own correspondence) was the King of the Mosquito Nation, 1824–1842. Succession Robert Charles Frederic was educated in Jamaica. He became "king" following the death of his brother and predec ...
. In 1840 King Robert Charles, established a will which created a council to oversee the affairs of the country in the last years of his reign, and to insure that his heir be advised during a regency, and that the education and support of his family be maintained. The will granted considerable power to the Superintendent, Alexander MacDonald, to appoint councilors, and gave the council full power to institute and change laws, aside from the law establishing the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
as the official church.


Reign

George Augustus was only about 9 when his father died, and the Regency Council created by his father and MacDonald, having been rejected in Great Britain, was resumed with a different composition, this time under Superintendent Patrick Walker. However, in addition to this council, there was also a regency organized within the kingdom itself, consisting of "Prince" Wellington, "Colonel" Johnson and "General" Lowrey, recognized by the British government on 4 May 1843. He was crowned in Belize on 7 May 1845, when only 12 years old. The next year, 1846, the king abolished the regency council and appointed a new one with the original councilors appointed in honorary positions and a new staff, composed of Creole inhabitants of Bluefields to continue the regency. The Council, acting in his name, passed a number of laws establishing a militia under local command and control, and abolishing land grants given by his father which were claimed to be irregular, as well as abolishing "Indian Laws and Customs," primarily judicial procedures, which were to be handled by royally appointed magistrates, and regulating woodcutting. King George supported
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
and allowed a variety of Superintendents to operate within the kingdom to advance its interests, and in turn he received their political support. As a part of this support, the English declared a Protectorate over the Miskito Kingdom in 1844, and used the kingdom as a cover for the expansion of British strategic interests in Central America. Perhaps the most notable of these initiatives was the expansion of the kingdom's center to the south, first to
Bluefields Bluefields is the capital of the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, South Caribbean Autonomous Region in Nicaragua. It was also the capital of the former Mosquito Coast, Kingdom of Mosquitia, and later the Zelaya Department, which was divid ...
and then to
San Juan del Norte San Juan de Nicaragua, formerly known as San Juan del Norte or Greytown, is a town and municipality in the Río San Juan Department of Nicaragua. History San Juan del Norte was founded by the Spanish and was a small fort and customs station. S ...
, where he cooperated, with the support of British naval forces, with the expulsion of the Nicaraguan garrison and the annexation of the town to the Miskito Kingdom in 1848. Holding this town gave Britain and the Miskito Kingdom control of an important point in a canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific. The southern expansion met strong resistance from the Republics of
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
and
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
, as well as the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, who wished to limit British influence in
Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
. Potential violence took place as the United States and Britain squared off between 1850 and 1854 around San Juan del Norte, ultimately leading to Britain renouncing its Protectorate role at the
Treaty of Managua The Treaty of Managua, also known as the Zeledon-Wyke treaty, was an 1860 agreement between the United Kingdom and Nicaragua, in which Britain recognised Nicaraguan sovereignty over the Kingdom of Mosquitia, but reserved, on the basis of histori ...
in 1860. Under the terms of the treaty, Britain would recognize Nicaraguan sovereignty over the Miskito kingdom, while reserving for its people the right to self-government, and payment of an annual stipend to the king. The treaty withdrew international recognition of George as "king" and held him to be only the "hereditary chief" of an entity called the "Reserva Mosquita." While the treaty was significant as far as the international standing of the Miskito Kingdom was concerned, neither Nicaragua nor Britain had been able to occupy, tax or collect revenue from the kingdom. Consequently, the treaty had little internal significance either to the inhabitants or the domestic status of King George. In 1861, George Augustus, now calling himself "Hereditary Chief" and giving his residence as Bluefields, Mosquito Reservation, summoned a council to enact what amounted to a constitution of the new entity. It recognized the boundaries as established by the Treaty of Managua, reiterated the existing laws passed in 1846, and establish a two tier governing body with power exercised by qualified elected officials (male gender, literacy and property being specified as qualification). This system allowed for shared power between the largely Creole population and the indigenous population."Municipal Constitution of the Mosquito Reserve", in von Oertzen, Rossback and Wunderlich, ''Nicaraguan Mosquitia'', pp. 318-335.


Competence and character

George Augustus was frequently characterized as being a simpleton and incompetent by detractors, both from within the British government and by United States writers, especially
E. G. Squier Ephraim George Squier (June 17, 1821 – April 17, 1888), usually cited as E. G. Squier, was an American archaeologist, history writer, painter and newspaper editor. Biography Squier was born in Bethlehem, New York, the son of a minister, Joel S ...
. These writers were inclined to present him as a puppet of British interests, and to suppose that his kingdom was not actually capable of governing itself.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:George Augustus Frederic, 02 1833 births 1864 deaths Miskito people