1804-August-01: Reports of the massacres of white colonists in Haiti reached Washington, providing the Jefferson administration with a moral justification to…

1804-August-01: Reports of the massacres of white colonists in Haiti reached Washington, providing the Jefferson administration with a moral justification to distance itself from the Dessalines government. While the “horror of the massacres” was widely publicized, historians like Logan suggest the real driver of American policy remained the Florida negotiations. Jefferson became increasingly willing to contemplate a total prohibition of trade if it would finalize the deal for the Floridas and appease Napoleon. The suffering of the French refugees in the United States further fueled public demand for a more restrictive policy toward the “black rebels.” By late summer, the groundwork was being laid for the eventual legislative crackdown on Haitian commerce that would follow in 1805 and 1806.