Martínez, Tomás (1820–1873)

Tomás Martínez (b. 21 December 1820; d. 12 March 1873), president of Nicaragua (1859–1867). In his early life Martínez was involved in commerce and agriculture, only later turning to the military. He became president in 1859, after the ouster of U.S. filibuster William Walker during the National War (in which Martínez emerged as a central figure). His administration developed a program that included the reorganization of agriculture, increased coffee cultivation, state support for secular schools, industrial growth, limitations on government monopolies, separation of church and state, abolition of the death penalty, establishment of trial by jury, and a plan for direct elections.

Ironically, although his administration ushered in thirty years of Conservative Party rule, his plan for direct elections ultimately caused the Conservative Party to split into four factions, creating a tumultuous situation that led to the installation of Liberal José Santos Zelaya as president in 1893.

See alsoNicaragua .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sara Luisa Barquero, Gobernantes de Nicaragua, 1825–1947 (1945), esp. pp. 117-124.

Francisco Ortega Arancibia, Cuarenta años (1838–1878) de historia de Nicaragua (1975).

Benjamin I. Teplitz, "The Political and Economic Foundations of Modernization in Nicaragua: The Administration of José Santos Zelaya, 1893–1909" (Ph.D. diss., Howard University, 1973), esp. p. 7.

Additional Bibliography

Cruz, Arturo J. Nicaragua's Conservative Republic, 1858–93. New York: Palgrave, 2002.

Velázquez P., José L. La formación del Estado en Nicaragua, 1860–1930. Managua, Nicaragua: Fondo Editorial, Banco Central de Nicaragua, 1992.

                                       Shannon Bellamy