1780
1780: A police report from Cap-Français expressed heightened anxiety regarding a restless population of petits blancs arriving daily from Europe to escape le…
HT-TCWI-2018-000043
1780: A police report from Cap-Français expressed heightened anxiety regarding a restless population of petits blancs arriving daily from Europe to escape legal reprisals. While some arrivals were sturdy artisans, many were viewed as a “mob of vagabonds” who brought urban vices like gambling, mutiny, and sedition to the colony. These young, mobile men often shared equally with the free people of color in the blame for a perceived rise in urban crime. The concentration of such unruly Europeans in the port cities posed a significant and unpredictable threat to metropolitan authority.
Source · HT-TCWI-2018-000043
Scott, The Common Wind / Bates: HT-TCWI-2018-000043, HT-TCWI-2018-000044