1784-October-31: In response to the intense lobbying from French port cities, the government issued a subsequent decree to modify the earlier trade liberaliz…

1784-October-31: In response to the intense lobbying from French port cities, the government issued a subsequent decree to modify the earlier trade liberalizations. The new regulations restricted foreign trade to only those colonial ports capable of receiving vessels with a capacity of at least one hundred and fifty tons. This change was a calculated attempt to limit the access of the small American ships that had been dominating the coastal trade of Saint-Domingue. French merchants argued that the previous decree had allowed Americans to usurp the “metropolitan” trade in colonial products. This legislative reversal highlighted the ongoing tension between the economic needs of the colony and the protectionist policies of the French crown.