1798-1799: During the height of the diplomatic struggles over the future of Saint-Domingue, masterless people from the colony appeared in port cities ranging…

1798-1799: During the height of the diplomatic struggles over the future of Saint-Domingue, masterless people from the colony appeared in port cities ranging from Philadelphia to Venezuela. These individuals carried revolutionary ideas and firsthand accounts of the black uprising to every corner of the Atlantic world. Their presence forced colonial and national governments to implement increasingly repressive measures to contain the “contagion” of liberty. The movement of these unmastered groups underscored the failure of imperial blockades to fully isolate the island. These veterans of the revolution acted as mobile nodes in a transnational network of resistance.