1794-Feb.-04: The American Star, a Philadelphia newspaper, published a report on the arrival of French political refugees and the intense debates their prese…

1794-Feb.-04: The American Star, a Philadelphia newspaper, published a report on the arrival of French political refugees and the intense debates their presence sparked in the United States. The paper noted that many of these refugees brought enslaved people who had witnessed the horrors and triumphs of the Saint-Domingue revolution firsthand. The report observed that Philadelphia’s growing black community was devouring this news with “extraordinary enthusiasm.” This publication was part of a larger trend of urban newspapers serving as critical hubs for the dissemination of Caribbean news. It highlighted the role of the press in connecting the struggles of blacks in the North with those in the West Indies.