Hamilton's Role in US–Saint-Domingue Commerce (1794–1799)

A composite of primary documents from the Founders Online Hamilton Papers covering two phases of Hamilton's involvement with Saint-Domingue: his co-signature of cabinet advice on the 1794 refugee relief funds, and his structural role in the Adams-era commercial and diplomatic engagement with Toussaint Louverture's government via his childhood friend Edward Stevens. The documents illuminate the Federalist strategy of containing Black revolution while opening trade, the entanglement of diplomatic and commercial interest in the Stevens mission and the Kingston cargo, and the Republican accusations of a 'politico-mercantile scheme' linking Hamilton, Stevens, and Secretary Pickering.