Author Archives: Kelsey Corlett-Rivera

Ordinance Concerning the Introduction of Foreign Grain in the Warehouse Ports of the French Section of the Island of Saint-Domingue

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Le Marquis Marie-Charles du Chilleau, Governor of Saint-Domingue, proposed this Ordinance to the French legislature one year after his appointment to allow foreign grain to be legally imported into Saint-Domingue. This is the second ordinance issued by the governor in response to the grain shortages in Saint-Domingue, which threatened the planters with famine and malnutrition.

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Copy of the Letter from M. le Marquis du Chilleau to M. de Marbois, dating from March 29, 1789. Item A and Response from M. de Marbois from the same day. Item B.

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These are the first two pieces of a chain of correspondence between the governor of Saint-Domingue, M. le Marquis du Chilleau, and M. de Marbois, which were forwarded to M. le Comte de la Luzerne in support of the introduction of Foreign grain into Saint-Domingue.

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Copy of the Report Presented to the King by M. le Comte de La Luzerne and Approved by His Majesty, March 7, 1788

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This report nominates and appoints M. le Marquis du Chilleau as Governor of the island of Saint-Domingue. Much like the Arrêt du roi [Judgment from the State Council of the King ], this document presents one of the few moments where King Louis XVI directly intervenes in events surrounding the grain disputes of 1789.

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Judgment from the State Council of the King, September 10, 1786

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In this royal decree, which modifies a similar decree issued in August 1784, the French government sought to introduce more slaves to the windward colonies of Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Lucia, and Tobago; encourage the importation of raw Saint Lucian sugar; and provide an influx of slaves to the Southern ports of Les Cayes-Saint-Louis to make up for a lack of sufficient labor. Showing the interconnectedness and interdependence of the colonies in the French Caribbean, this pamphlet also reveals how certain regions and islands received less attention than the more economically viable regions of Saint-Domingue like Le Cap and Port-au-Prince.

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