1804-April-15: The Jefferson administration began explicitly linking the “Haitian question” to the American desire to acquire West and East Florida from Spain.

1804-April-15: The Jefferson administration began explicitly linking the “Haitian question” to the American desire to acquire West and East Florida from Spain. Madison suggested to French diplomats that American concessions regarding the arming of merchant ships for the Haiti trade could be exchanged for French pressure on Spain to cede the Floridas. By promising to restrain the “brigand” trade that so irritated Napoleon, Jefferson hoped to secure the Emperor’s support for American expansion toward the Gulf of Mexico. This strategy treated the survival of the infant Haitian Republic as secondary to the strategic acquisition of Spanish territory. It reflected a cold, pragmatic shift in Republican foreign policy that prioritized continental security over revolutionary solidarity.