Michel Gobat's extensively researched and well-argued interrogation of William Walker's failed imperial venture in Nicaragua, seeks to place this often overlooked historical episode into the broader narrative of US imperial expansion. Gobat examines a myriad of primary sources, most importantly the pro-Walker newspaper El Nicaragüense, which allows him to reconsider slavery's role in defining Walker's imperial ambitions. Walker decreed slavery legal on September 22, 1856, countering the actions of Nicaragua's Constituent Assembly, which had abolished slavery in 1824.
Gobat suggests that earlier studies focused too heavily on Walker's decision to (re)legalize slavery, which led their authors to portray Walker's state, erroneously, as an anomalous experiment gone awry, rather than as an important episode within the broader narrative of US imperial expansion. Gobat notes that before arriving in Nicaragua Walker published articles that supported free-soil ideals and candidates. Additionally, Walker's government never took any actions before or after issuing the decree to spur the importation of slaves. These facts allow Gobat to counter earlier interpretations of Walker that proclaimed slavery as the defining goal of this imperial project.
Not only was Walker's empire not built on the dream of expanding slavery, but it also counted on widespread popular support in both the United States and Nicaragua. Walker's government welcomed 12,000 US colonists who idealistically envisioned Nicaragua as an untapped resource-rich paradise that offered them a chance to help spread civilization, democracy, and Protestant morality while also constructing a prosperous future for themselves. Walker's imperial discourse may have been paternalistic and racist, but it also promised its adherents progress, liberty, and political stability. These ideals and hopes were shared by many Nicaraguan liberal elites when they first lured Walker and 59 soldiers of fortune under his command to the country to help them defeat the ruling Conservative party. In fact, these liberals promised Walker both cash and uncultivated lands, in the hope that these mercenaries would settle permanently. Many Nicaraguan elites admired the strong political institutions and booming industrial economy in the United States and believed that mass immigration of white settlers from the United States and Europe would speed up their nation's modernization efforts.
Walker initially delivered on his promises to Nicaraguan elites. In addition to attracting thousands of colonists, he created a relatively stable government by securing support among both liberal and conservative elites. Despite these early achievements, Walker ultimately lost elite support when his government began to take steps to create a more democratic society, which entailed chipping away at the Nicaraguan elite's traditional power. As Walker's favor among elites began to wane, he focused his energies on expanding his military.
To this end, he took a gamble, successful at first, when he issued a decree that reestablished slavery; in response, dozens of people from the United States—men from slaveholding states—disembarked in Nicaragua. These volunteer soldiers, however, served to transform Walker's politically driven war into a bloody race war. Moreover, Walker's enemies effectively employed this decree to vilify the filibusters as racist imperialists eager to strip all Central Americans of their liberties. Coupled with the racial and nationalist divisions Walker and his troops embraced, the violence of this conflict as his hold on power disintegrated would ultimately overshadow Walker's early progressive aims.
This is a fascinating book that pulls readers along, yet readers should be mindful not to let Gobat's extensive evidence distract them from his larger arguments. Getting lost in this way can be disorienting; it is not, however, tiresome. Indeed, when Gobat seemingly wanders off track, readers are invited to meet such intriguing historical actors as the suffragette and abolitionist Sarah Pellet, who championed the causes of temperance and Walker's Nicaragua. Pellet underscores the clear nineteenth-century progressive underpinnings of Walker's empire and challenges earlier portraits of this imperialist and his supporters.
Perhaps a bit more signposting might have helped this reader recognize how Gobat wished his many vignettes to demonstrate the merits of his bold arguments. Despite this minor critique, Gobat's exciting new work is bound to become required reading for historians of Central America and US empire, as it will undoubtedly reposition Walker's imperialist venture within these historiographies.
