Rebuilding the French Atlantic: Saint-Domingue Refugees and Masonic Lodges, 1790s-1820

In the wake of the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804), tens of thousands people fled from the collapsing French colony of Saint-Domingue to neighboring Caribbean colonies and North America. Scattered as they were, these refugees nevertheless established and maintained close diasporic bonds. This paper argues that forms of cross-border sociability played a pivotal role in cultivating these connections and at the same time help them in building networks in the host societies. Focusing on masonic lodges that quickly became a conspicuous feature of Saint-Domingue refugee communities across the Americas, the paper discusses the importance and various functions of diaspora sociability.