The Greater Republic of Central America was a short-lived union between Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, lasting from 1896 to 1898. It was an attempt to revive the failed Federal Republic of Central America earlier in the century.
The three countries agreed to establish a union with the signing of the Treaty of Amapala on 20 June, 1895. On 15 September, 1896, after the countries had all ratified the treaty individually, the union was formally confirmed. The republic was rechristened the "United States of Central America" when its constitution came into effect on 1 November, 1898. The capital was to be located at the Honduran town of Amapala on the Gulf of Fonseca. The union was dissolved after General Tomás Regalado seized power in El Salvador on 21 November.
Before its dissolution, the Greater Republic established diplomatic relationships with the United States. Guatemala and Costa Rica both considered joining the union, but neither ultimately did.
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“Admire a small ship, but put your freight in a large one; for the larger the load, the greater will be the profit upon profit.”
—Hesiod (c. 8th century B.C.)
“People think they have taken quite an extraordinarily bold step forward when they have rid themselves of belief in hereditary monarchy and swear by the democratic republic. In reality, however, the state is nothing but a machine for the oppression of one class by another, and indeed in the democratic republic no less than in the monarchy.”
—Friedrich Engels (1820–1895)
“The Federal Constitution has stood the test of more than a hundred years in supplying the powers that have been needed to make the Central Government as strong as it ought to be, and with this movement toward uniform legislation and agreements between the States I do not see why the Constitution may not serve our people always.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“Those who first introduced compulsory education into American life knew exactly why children should go to school and learn to read: to save their souls.... Consistent with this goal, the first book written and printed for children in America was titled Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes in either England, drawn from the Breasts of both Testaments for their Souls’ Nourishment.”
—Dorothy H. Cohen (20th century)