Juan Gonzalez, the author of Harvest of Empire, brings his decades of experience as a journalist to research and write this ambitious retelling of America’s history. He establishes his credibility in the Introduction by relating his experience as a journalist covering Latin America for the past decades. He also introduces himself as a character in the story, selecting his own family as the focus for his chapter on Puerto Rico and detailing his own political activity in helping to create the political group The Young Lords. He does not attempt to hide his own feelings about his subject and create journalistic distance; instead, he embraces his experience and shows how it allows him to be an even more credible voice.

Gonzalez refers to Juan Seguín as the forgotten Father of Latin American politics. In 1836, Seguín joined the revolution in Texas against the Mexican General Santa Anna, who had stripped the Mexican people of their constitution. Seguín was at the Alamo, but he had been sent out of the fort with a message before Santa Anna arrived and killed everyone at the fort. Seguín later fought with Sam Houston in defeating Santa Anna at the Battle of Jacinto.