“The Island Is in Great Distress”: An American Merchant at Cap-Français Reports the Opening Months of the Haitian Revolution.
Cap-Français, Saint-Domingue: November 2, 1791. Autograph letter signed, Frederick Shenckle, Jr., to his father in Philadelphia. One page with integral address leaf carried by hand aboard the brig Commerce. 6 ¼ x 7 ½ inches. Fine condition. Item #List3730
A scarce contemporary account written from Cap-Français during the opening months of the Haitian Revolution. Composed barely ten weeks after the August 1791 uprising, launched by enslaved people in northern Saint-Domingue, the letter captures the uncertainty and turmoil in the French colony; the uprising would ultimately destroy slavery in the colony and lead to the creation of Haiti. Schenckle’s letter offers a rare American eyewitness perspective on one of the most consequential revolutions in the modern Atlantic world.
Frederick Shenkel, Jr., was a Philadelphia merchant or sailor, in Saint-Domingue temporarily for business. He reports to his father:
“I inform you by this of our safe arrival in health after a passage of twenty two days, in good health, hoping this may find you the same & all the Family. Mackerel are very low, Flour sells for Four dollars p. Bbl & a dull sale at that price. The Island is in great distress. The Negroes have burnt, destroyed & killed all around the inhabitants & Americans are obliged to go out upon duty. The times are sickly, so how they’ll make out God only knows.
“I expect we shall sail, if we don’t sell, next week for America. By the Bearer, I have sent you 1 basket Oranges, the best I could get.”
Shenckel was witnessing the revolutionary movement that would ultimately end slavery in the colony. Commercial concerns, family news, and reports of violence appear side by side, illustrating how rapidly the revolt disrupted everyday life and Atlantic commerce.
A rare and highly teachable manuscript relating to the Haitian Revolution. We find no comparable contemporary accounts by Anglo-American merchants or residents in auction records or the trade, with the small number of comparable manuscripts we have identified consisting overwhelmingly of correspondence by French colonial officials, military officers, and administrators.
Price: $3,000.00