1799-Aug.-06: The Marqués de Someruelos in Havana wrote to Mariano Luis de Urquijo to report on the “fearsome example” Toussaint Louverture was setting for t…

1799-Aug.-06: The Marqués de Someruelos in Havana wrote to Mariano Luis de Urquijo to report on the “fearsome example” Toussaint Louverture was setting for the Spanish colonies. He noted that the success of the black armies in Saint-Domingue was being openly celebrated by the “lower classes” and enslaved people in Cuba. Someruelos warned that the proximity of a self-governing black state made the traditional methods of colonial control increasingly difficult to maintain. He urged the Spanish Crown to strengthen the defenses of Havana and restrict all arrivals of “French Negroes” who might be Toussaint’s agents. This correspondence illustrated the “domino effect” that Spanish officials feared the revolution would have across the Greater Antilles.