1979/07/01 by Timothy M. Matthewson · 6 citations
Social Sciences · #American Constitutional Law and Politics #Colonialism, slavery, and trade #Cuban History and Society #Administration (probate law) #Political science #SAINT #State (computer science) #George (robot) #Economic history #Threatened species #History #Law #Art history
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1467-7709.1979.tb00318.x
published in Diplomatic History 3(3), 321-336 (Oxford University Press)
openalex publication_date 1979/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
On the night of 22 August, 1791, a slave insurrection broke out in the French West Indian colony of Saint Domingue, present-day Haiti. Unlike other slave insurrections in the New World, the Haitian revolution led to the creation of a modern state. The slaves, led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, overthrew the French planter regime in June 1793 and declared the colony independent of France in 1804. This successful black uprising caused a crisis in the Washington administration because it threatened America's extensive commerce with Saint Domingue, Franco- and Anglo-American relations, and the racial stability of the South. Federal policy grew out of several, often conflicting, factors, no one of which can completely explain the behavior of leading officials in the Washington administration. This essay focuses upon the formation of federal policy toward Saint Domingue, the implementation of that policy between September 1791 and June 1793, and the eventual failure of administration efforts to suppress the Haitian revolt in mid-1793.