Tobias Lear

Tobias Lear, private secretary to George Washington and commercial agent to Saint-Domingue, is the subject of this portrait print. Secretary of State James Madison selected Lear to serve as commercial agent in Saint-Domingue, replacing the previous administration’s choice for consul-general, Edward Stevens. Lear’s title was less formal than his predecessor’s, as the Jefferson administration wished to distance itself from Louverture’s revolutionary government. In addition to the change in title, Madison intentionally sent Lear to the island without a letter from the president to avoid accusations of formal engagement with the country. Lear wrote to Madison that, upon being informed that he carried no letter from the United States, Louverture “immediately returned my Commission without opening it, expressing his disappointment and disgust in strong terms, saying that his Colour was the cause of his being neglected, and not thought worthy of the Usual attentions.” Lear fled Saint-Domingue in April 1802 when French general Charles Victor Emmanual LeClerc forced him to return to the United States.