Empire by Invitation: William Walker and Manifest Destiny in Central America

Book overview Description Editorial Reviews Michel Gobat traces the untold story of the rise and fall of the first U.S.

overseas empire to William Walker, a believer in the nation’s manifest destiny to spread its blessings not only westward but abroad as well.In the 1850s Walker and a small group of U.S.

expansionists migrated to Nicaragua determined to forge a tropical “empire of liberty.” His quest to free Central American masses from allegedly despotic elites initially enjoyed strong local support from liberal Nicaraguans who hoped U.S.-style democracy and progress would spread across the land.