1822-June-01: Following President Jean-Pierre Boyer’s unification of the entire island of Hispaniola, Southern American states grew increasingly alarmed at t…

1822-June-01: Following President Jean-Pierre Boyer’s unification of the entire island of Hispaniola, Southern American states grew increasingly alarmed at the prospect of Haitian expansion. A Southern newspaper warned that Boyer had integrated seven to eight thousand Spanish-speaking troops into his army, a force that could easily “revolutionize” Cuba or Puerto Rico. The article argued that it was the “duty” of the United States and Great Britain to intervene and tell the Haitians, “thus far shall ye go and no farther.” This rhetoric reflected a desire to see European powers “pull the American chestnuts out of the fire” by containing the spread of black-led republicanism in the Caribbean.