A Topographical and Political Description of the Spanish Part of Saint-domingo, : Containing, General Observations on the Climate, Population, and Productions; on the Character and Manners of the Inhabitants. 2 Volume Set

M L E Moreau de Saint-Mery; William Cobbett

Published by Philadelphia: printed and sold by the author, printer, etc, 1796

About this Item

2 Volumes. Bound in contemporary 3/4 black leather. Marbled boards. New spine labels. Hinges rehinged. Speckled page ends. Good binding and cover. Ornate bookplate from the Pepperell family. Map present at title page of Volume I. Offsetting occurring to map, with small tear on fold at attachment to title page. Hand colored border to Saint-Domingo on map. Errata and contents to end of Vol. II. Foxing and toning to pages. Brooks 814; Sabin 50572. Mederic Louis Elie Moreau de Saint-Mery was a lawyer and writer with a career in public office in France, Martinique, and Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti). He is best known for his publications on St-Domingue and Martinique. A well-educated slave owner, he rejected the principle of the Natural Rights of Man in order to defend legal slavery and segregation on the basis of race. In his roles in the French parliament and on the colonial Governing Boards, he sought to maintain an economic system based on slave labor. To this end, he pursued the rights of colonists - mostly white planters - and sought a degree of self-determination for the French Caribbean. Spanish Santo Domingo remained poor and neglected, particularly in contrast with neighboring French Saint-Domingue, which became the wealthiest colony in the New World. As restrictions on colonial trade were relaxed, the colonial elites of St. Domingue offered the principal market for Santo Domingo's exports of beef, hides, mahogany and tobacco. With the outbreak of the Haitian Revolution, the rich urban families linked to the colonial bureaucracy fled the island, while most of the rural hateros (cattle ranchers) remained, even though they lost their principal market. Spain saw in the unrest an opportunity to seize all, or part, of the western region of the island in an alliance of convenience with the British and the rebellious slaves. They were defeated by the forces of the black Jacobin General Toussaint L'Ouverture, and in 1795, France gained control of the whole island under the Treaties of Basel. Moreau's history gives a clear picture of the state of Spanish Domingue prior to the French Insurrection spilling over. In a final note by Moreau in the final 5 pages of Vol. II, has Moreau talks about the state of Louisiana, in Spanish hands since 1762, that it would be the best new colony in French interests if France wished to expand in the Western Hemisphere. Only four years later would he be proven correct, in the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, which in turn, three years later, led to the Louisiana Purchase by Jefferson and the United States. Seller Inventory # 1410010008

Bibliographic Details

Title: A Topographical and Political Description of...

Publisher: Philadelphia: printed and sold by the author, printer, etc

Publication Date: 1796

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Edition: First Edition.