Solon Borland - Controversial Politics

Controversial Politics

After the war, he was elected as a United States Senator to fill the unexpired term of Ambrose Hundley Sevier. His views were generally of a disunionist version, and he was not popular with many Senate members. During an 1850 debate over Southern rights, he physically attacked Mississippi Senator Henry Foote. He discovered soon after his return to Little Rock that his views were not popular at home, either. Borland resigned from the Senate in 1853 and served as United States Minister to Nicaragua through 1854. However, this duty did not run smoothly for him either.

Immediately after his arrival in Managua, he called for the US Government to repudiate the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, and for the American military to support Honduras in its confrontation with Great Britain. In a public address in Nicaragua, he stated that it was his greatest ambition to see Nicaragua "forming a bright star in the flag of the United States". He was reprimanded for this by US Secretary of State William Marcy. While leaving San Juan del Norte in May, 1854, Borland interfered with the local arrest of an American citizen. He was threatened with arrest, but due to his diplomatic immunity, no arrest was made. However, a crowd had gathered, and a bottle was thrown which hit Borland in the face. Enraged, he reported the incident to the United States, who promptly dispatched a gunboat, and demanded an apology. When none was given, the town was bombarded and burned.

Borland returned to Little Rock in October 1854, and resumed his medical practice and operation of his pharmacy. Borland declined a nomination from President Pierce as Governor of the New Mexico Territory. However he remained active in local politics, and very vocal as to his views on states rights and secession.