1788: The French ship’s master Jean Pousson settled in New Orleans, initiating a twelve-year career of freewheeling maritime activity across the Atlantic.

1788: The French ship’s master Jean Pousson settled in New Orleans, initiating a twelve-year career of freewheeling maritime activity across the Atlantic. Sailing under Spanish colors, Pousson maintained an extensive personal network that connected New Orleans to Charleston, Kingston, and Cap Français. His voyages frequently combined commercial ventures with the transport of revolutionary letters and “secret enemies” of the state. Such mobile characters exemplified the “masterless” individuals who subverted imperial boundaries and spread radical ideologies through the ports. Pousson’s presence in Saint-Domingue as late as 1792 highlights the persistence of these cross-border networks during the height of the insurrection.