1790-January-01: Gouverneur Morris, an influential American figure in Paris, warned French Secretary Montmorin that excluding the United States from free tra…

1790-January-01: Gouverneur Morris, an influential American figure in Paris, warned French Secretary Montmorin that excluding the United States from free trade with the French colonies would drive the Americans into a British alliance. Morris argued that the economic interests of the United States were fundamentally tied to the Caribbean and that France risked losing its strategic partnership with the new republic. This diplomatic pressure was part of a broader American effort to leverage the threat of closer ties with Britain to extract trade concessions. French officials were increasingly concerned that their inability to supply Saint-Domingue would force the colony to look toward the United States for protection and commerce. Logan identifies this period as a critical juncture where the trade of Saint-Domingue began to dictate the course of Franco-American relations.