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Description

In February 1791, Thomas Hodges sold 29 slaves in Hispaniola on behalf of his father-in-law, Thomas Robison of Portland. American ships were not allowed to bring slaves to the French colony, so Hodges had chartered a French ship to bring his cargo into the port of Aux Cayes (present day Les Cayes, Haiti). Once there, he devised a plan to sneak a second shipment of slaves into Hispaniola aboard the Eagle, which would sail from Africa that summer.

Hodges sent his plan to Portland for Thomas Robison's approval, in hopes that Robison would forward his instructions to friends on the island of St. Eustatius, where the Eagle was expected to land in July or August. These instructions directed Captain Henry Skinner to sail directly to a sugar plantation along the coast of Hispaniola, within a short distance of Aux Cayes. He was to meet the plantation owner, who would take the slaves, and move along to the port, where it would appear that the Eagle had arrived with an empty hull.

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About This Item

• Title: Letter from Thomas Hodges to Captain Henry Skinner, Portland, 1791
• Creator: Thomas Hodges
• Creation Date: 1791
• Subject Date: 1791
• Locations:
  • Les Cayes, Haiti
  • Sint Eustatius
• Media: Ink on paper
• Local Code: Coll. 5, Box 2/8
• Collection: Robison family papers
• Object Type: Text

Cross Reference Searches

Standardized Subject Headings

• Eagle (Ship)
• Hispaniola
• Slave trade--Caribbean Area
• Slavery--Caribbean Area
• Smuggling
• Sugar trade

People

• Bolland, George
• Hodges, Thomas
• Robison, Thomas
• Skinner, Henry

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Item 101784

Thomas Reed to Thomas Robison regarding the Caribbean economy and slave market, Sint Eustatius, 1791

Item 101827

"The Owners Ship Eagle in Account Current with Henry Skinner," 1791

Item 101828

Cargo of Ship Eagle, 1791

Item 102023

Thomas Robison from Thomas Hodges regarding illegal slave trade, Les Cayes, April 6, 1791

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