Hamilton’s Role in the Volunbrun Case

Hamilton had never been sympathetic to the Haitian Revolution or black rebellion in general. During 1801–1802, he withdrew from the Volunbrun case, much to the chagrin of his NYMS colleagues who had ordered him to supervise the Society’s prosecution of Volunbrun for slaveholding. The vice president of the Society, William Walton Woolsey, a wealthy Federalist merchant, shared Hamilton’s revulsion at NYMS support for Black Haitian protesters. Neither of them attended meetings involving Volunbrun’s enslaved workers.