January 1798

By 1798, Toussaint Louverture controlled most of Saint-Domingue and had signed treaties with Britain and the United States. American merchants traded with his government; John Adams's administration supplied arms and food. Southern slaveholders, led by South Carolina's delegation, blocked further cooperation and pressured the Adams administration to distance itself from the Black republic in formation. The fear that Haiti's revolution would inspire American enslaved people shaped US domestic and

By 1798, Toussaint Louverture controlled most of Saint-Domingue and signed treaties with Britain and the United States. Southern slaveholders blocked further US cooperation, pressuring the Adams administration to distance itself from the emerging Black republic. Fear that Haiti's revolution would inspire American enslaved people shaped US foreign and domestic policy for decades.

Georgia briefly prohibited the importation of enslaved people in its 1798 constitution under pressure from other states — but the provision was routinely flouted and Georgia rescinded restrictions within years. The state had been among the most aggressive in blocking federal restrictions at the Constitutional Convention. Georgia and South Carolina were ultimately the primary conduits for the massive wave of slave imports between 1803 and 1807, when those states reopened their ports ahead of the