1795-Feb.-15: Antonio López Quintana informed Gardoqui that the Spanish government in Caracas was considering a prohibition on the use of “skyrockets” and fi…

1795-Feb.-15: Antonio López Quintana informed Gardoqui that the Spanish government in Caracas was considering a prohibition on the use of “skyrockets” and fireworks. This measure was proposed because such devices had been used by black rebels in Saint-Domingue as secret signals to coordinate their attacks. The Spanish feared that the local black and mulatto population in Venezuela might adopt similar methods of communication. Similar prohibitions were simultaneously being discussed by authorities in Philadelphia, illustrating a shared Atlantic-wide anxiety over the tools of rebellion. This reflected the degree to which the tactical lessons of the Haitian Revolution were being studied by colonial administrators.