1802-March-01: French chargé d’affaires Pichon expressed extreme frustration with the Jefferson administration for failing to issue a formal decree forbiddin…

1802-March-01: French chargé d’affaires Pichon expressed extreme frustration with the Jefferson administration for failing to issue a formal decree forbidding all commerce with Toussaint’s rebels. While Madison admitted that the French were justified in restraining trade with “insurgents,” he refused to pass domestic laws that would criminalize American merchants for attempting to trade. This lack of legal enforcement allowed American supplies to continue flowing into the hands of Toussaint’s generals under the guise of private enterprise. Pichon realized that the American government was effectively letting the “Leclerc expedition succumb” to the combined forces of yellow fever and black resistance. This diplomatic stall tactic kept the French military bogged down in the Caribbean while the United States monitored developments in Louisiana.