1793-Jul.-09: Thomas Newton informed the Governor of Virginia that a large number of French refugees, accompanied by their enslaved servants, had arrived in …

1793-Jul.-09: Thomas Newton informed the Governor of Virginia that a large number of French refugees, accompanied by their enslaved servants, had arrived in the port of Norfolk. He expressed concern that these “French Negroes” would bring “seditious” principles and news of the Haitian Revolution to the local black population. Newton emphasized that the arrival of these individuals made it nearly impossible to prevent the spread of revolutionary ideas within the state. He urged the government to establish strict quarantine and surveillance protocols for all new arrivals from the Caribbean. This report highlighted the role of white refugees in inadvertently facilitating the transmission of radical ideologies.