Context of '1806: US Places Embargo on Trade with Haiti'

Fearful that the Haitian revolution might inspire enslaved Africans in other parts of the world to rebel, US Congress bans trade with Haiti joining French and Spanish boycotts. The embargoes cripple Haiti’s economy, already weakened by 12 years of civil war. The embargo will be renewed in 1807 and 1809. [Dunkel, 1994] The embargo is accompanied by a threat of recolonization and re-enslavement if Haiti fails to compensate France for losses incurred when French plantation owners lost access to Haiti’s slave labor. [Newsday, 12/3/2003; Miami Herald, 12/18/2003; Boston Globe, 1/4/2004]

US Congress approves plans to construct a defense facility on the island of Diego Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago. [British Royal Courts of Justice, 10/9/2003]

The US Congress votes to authorize “non-military” aid to Nicaragua’s Contras: $38 million over two years. [PBS, 2000]

US Congress votes 392-22 in favor of legislation that restricts international inspections of chemical sites in the United States, effectively killing the Chemical Weapons Convention. [Henry Stimson Center, 6/16/1998 ; Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists website, 2/23/2004]