1791-Dec.: A royal proclamation issued in Jamaica strictly regulated the settlement of free people of color and free negroes arriving from the revolutionary …

1791-Dec.: A royal proclamation issued in Jamaica strictly regulated the settlement of free people of color and free negroes arriving from the revolutionary French colony. The law required two “substantial white housekeepers” to testify to the good character of any nonwhite immigrant before they could reside in a parish. This policy reflected the colonial administration’s deep-seated fear that mobile, free black individuals would act as agents of subversion. By placing the burden of “character” on white witnesses, the state sought to maintain a rigid gatekeeping system over the burgeoning free population. Such measures highlighted the desperate attempt by the British rulers to insulate Jamaica from the egalitarian principles of the Haitian Revolution.