1767-Jan.-12: Mefples l’aîné, a merchant in Port-au-Prince, issued a formal trade pass for an enslaved man named Jean to conduct “pacotille” (peddler) business.

1767-Jan.-12: Mefples l’aîné, a merchant in Port-au-Prince, issued a formal trade pass for an enslaved man named Jean to conduct “pacotille” (peddler) business. Jean was authorized to travel between the districts of Saint-Marc, the Cap, and Fort-Dauphin with a mule for a period of one month. However, Jean was subsequently arrested by the Maréchaussée in Fort-Dauphin while in possession of the mule and two small leather-covered trunks. This incident highlights the semi-autonomous economic roles some enslaved individuals held as mobile traders within the colony’s internal markets.