1802-June-28: French Foreign Minister Talleyrand sent a disgruntled note to Livingston demanding that the United States formally forbid its citizens from tra…

1802-June-28: French Foreign Minister Talleyrand sent a disgruntled note to Livingston demanding that the United States formally forbid its citizens from trading with the rebellious “brigands” of Saint-Domingue. Talleyrand argued that such a prohibition was the only way for the United States to prove its sincere friendship for the French Republic. He emphasized that the continued arrival of American provisions was the primary reason the rebellion had not yet been completely crushed. The French government viewed American neutrality as a fraudulent cover for a policy that actively sustained Napoleon’s enemies in the Caribbean. This note represented the peak of French diplomatic pressure to force the United States into a choice between its merchants and its diplomatic relations with Paris.