Manifest Destiny's Underworld: Filibustering in Antebellum America (review)

May leaves no stone unturned in this definitive study that catalogues every major and minor U.S. filibustering expedition of the 1850s, and even some filibustering projects that never materialized. The first chapter identifies private, non-state- sponsored military expeditions that embarked for Canada, Cuba, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Subsequent chapters describe the relative ease of recruiting manpower; the significance of filibusterism in the national character of the United States; the multiple reasons for joining filibustering expeditions; efforts by the U.S. government to control the phenomenon; the process of raising money, arms, vessels, and supplies for the expeditions; the failures and often tragic consequences of filibustering efforts; diplomatic and commercial consequences for the United States; the relation of filibusterism to the North-South sectional crisis; and, finally, the legacy of filibusterism.

Each of these enormously detailed chapters is based on a mass of documentation from local and federal government sources, private correspondence, and newspapers. The author goes to great lengths to identify the participants of each expedition and to pinpoint their military experience, motivations, and level of involvement. We learn the numbers of participants and, in most cases, the names and condition of ships involved and the amount and sources of financial support. Because most expeditions embarked from New York, Florida, Texas, and California, May makes extensive use of local manuscript collections, law enforcement records, and newspapers. He also consulted records of messages from presidents, State and War Department officials, and military officers, as well as foreign sources when appropriate. The tightly packed endnotes run 106 pages, although unfortunately the volume includes no bibliography. It is hard to imagine any subsequent study uncovering more documentation or adding significantly to this account.

The weakness of the organizational scheme is that portions of each filibustering case are covered in different chapters, making it difficult for even the dedicated reader to acquire a complete picture of particular cases. The hundreds of names and organizational details included in the narrative make it even more challenging to follow the thread of individual cases. For example, the career of William Walker, identified by May as "America's most notorious filibuster" (p. 20), generates approximately two hundred entries in the index.

Still, as there are numerous studies of Walker and other filibusters, one must appreciate that this is a book on the phenomenon of filibustering. May provides information about victim countries sufficient to explain their vulnerability and attractiveness to armed adventurers from the outside, but it is not the author's object to provide comprehensive coverage of the actions of the filibusters or details of conditions in the countries invaded. Rather, the focus is clearly on the individuals who participated in these expeditions and the circumstances in the United States that allowed them to.

May's interpretations appear to be soundly based on the evidence. He leaves little doubt that filibustering, judging by frequency of, and public support for, the expeditions, was central to the national character in the 1850s. Rallies, theatrical performances, public debates, and other public expressions of sympathy justify the author's claim that this was the heyday of filibustering. On the other hand, May shows that government leaders denounced the expeditions and undertook significant efforts to stop them and prosecute offenders. Filibusters often stated and acted as if Presidents Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, and Buchanan favored their activities or at least winked at violations of neutrality laws. May provides substantial evidence that this was not the case. Presidents understood and supported the nation's neutrality laws, but inadequate legislation and law enforcement staff, in addition to the general refusal of juries to convict filibusters, frustrated their efforts.

While the focus of this study is on the 1850s and U.S.-based expeditions aimed at Cuba, Mexico, and Nicaragua, the author shows that filibustering expeditions were directed toward Canada as...