COLONIES BY MARSEILLE - Lot 326

COLONIES BY MARSEILLE L.A.S. signed Force (or Forcé), addressed to Taborde Millet & Cie, rue Rouselle in Bordeaux, Cap-Français, 25 thermidor an XI [August 13, 1803]. 3 pages in-4, with address and postal mark "COLONIES PAR MARSEILLE". Small marginal tear with tiny lack, usual folds, good condition. Very interesting commercial letter dispatched from Cap-Français in the final weeks of the French presence in Saint-Domingue, just as the colony was descending into the chaos preceding Haiti's independence. The correspondent announced that he had learned from an English ship bound for Bordeaux that "we are blocked by the English", but that it would nevertheless be permissible to trade with certain "black chiefs" now linked to the government. Taking advantage of this uncertain situation, he explains that he has liquidated his stock of goods and drawn drafts on Philadelphia. The letter offers a remarkable account of the colony's economic collapse: "We are here still much the same, with the exception, however, that we are blocked by the English..." The merchant also speaks of the difficulties of commercial operations, hesitations over commodity shipments, the risks associated with English seizures and the complications of drafts and assignats. He mentions several vessels, marine insurance and prospects for coffee shipments, hoping for an improvement in the market in the near future. This document takes on a particular historical dimension due to its extremely late date: August 1803, a few months before Haiti's official proclamation of independence on January 1, 1804. It bears witness to the rapid disintegration of French colonial trade on the island, and the pragmatic adaptation of traders to the new local authorities that emerged from the insurrection. A rare and precious account of the last months of Cap-Français under French rule, combining postal history, colonial trade and the Haitian revolutionary context.