The Haitian revolution came to North American shores in the form of a refugee crisis. In 1793, competing factions battled for control of the then-capital of St. Domingue, Cap-Français (now Cap-Haïtien.) The fighting and ensuing fire destroyed much of the capital, and refugees piled into ships anchored in the harbor. The Haitian Revolution and the subsequent emancipation of Haiti as an independent state provoked mixed reactions in the United States. This led to uneasiness in the US, instilling fears of racial instability on its own soil and possible problems with foreign relations and trade between the two countries.
