1788: Maritime logs recorded that more than one thousand foreign vessels called at Saint-Domingue’s ports, the vast majority being small ships under seventy-…

1788: Maritime logs recorded that more than one thousand foreign vessels called at Saint-Domingue’s ports, the vast majority being small ships under seventy-five tons. Of these, 259 were Spanish traders from across the Americas seeking to exchange bullion for slaves and European manufactured goods. By 1789, the number of Spanish vessels arriving in the French colony increased to 283. These statistics highlight the extensive commercial connectivity between Saint-Domingue and its neighbors on the eve of the revolutionary era.