1793-Jun.-20: Martial Besse, a free man of color and general from Saint-Domingue, arrived in North America with the French fleet, challenging the racial hier…

1793-Jun.-20: Martial Besse, a free man of color and general from Saint-Domingue, arrived in North America with the French fleet, challenging the racial hierarchies of the American South. Enslaved people in ports like Savannah and Charleston were electrified by the sight of a man of color in a position of command and authority within the French revolutionary army. Besse was an example of the “mobile revolutionaries” who embodied the physical link between the Caribbean and the United States. His military service under the tricolor flag served as a powerful symbol of the potential for black citizenship and equality. Besse’s activities are cited by Scott as evidence of the profound impact of individual agents of change on the regional imagination.