1801-Jan.-15: St.

1801-Jan.-15: St. George Tucker published his influential Letter to a Member of the General Assembly of Virginia in response to the growing threat of slave unrest. Tucker argued that the success of the black government in Saint-Domingue made the long-term survival of slavery in the United States impossible. He proposed a plan for the gradual emancipation and colonization of Virginia’s slaves to avoid a “Haitian-style” catastrophe. Tucker’s writings emphasized that the “communication with the sea” made it impossible to shield local slaves from Caribbean news. This document is a key text in understanding the intellectual impact of the Haitian Revolution on the American South.