Nightmare in the Caribbean Sea

United States.

Philadelphia.

In the Capitol's chamber, Hamilton stood at the podium, waving his right hand as he shouted:

"After twenty years, those arrogant British have once again ground our trade rights to dust and trampled our dignity beneath their feet!

"The Federal Government must defend our nation's trade routes in the Caribbean Sea at all costs. With an absolutely unyielding stance, we must make the British immediately release every Merchant ship they have illegally seized and promise never again to intercept or arrest our vessels and sailors!"

As the staunchest representative of the United States hawks, his words would ordinarily not have drawn much reaction from the legislators.

Yet this time, thunderous cries erupted throughout the chamber:

"We must be tough with the British!"

"Send a diplomatic protest immediately!"

"Free trade must never be destroyed!"

More than a dozen legislators even strode excitedly onto the platform, standing behind Hamilton and waving their hands in support.

It was no wonder they were so united against a common enemy. Just over a month ago, the newly established Saint-Domingue Government had sent the United States special trade permits!

It was like a pie falling from the sky. After Saint-Domingue gained independence, merchant ships without trade permits could not buy so much as a stalk of Sugar Cane there.

And this sudden special permit meant that American merchants only needed to load their ships full of Sugar Cane in Saint-Domingue, then make one trip to Europe. At Cane Sugar's current sky-high prices, they could easily earn an enormous profit of 140%!

Of course, this permit had actually been brought back from Paris by the French Advisor—under the secret agreement between France and Saint-Domingue, all Sugar Cane produced in Saint-Domingue over the next ten years could only be sold to those authorized by France.