Inter-imperial rivalry outweighed planter solidarity for Britain

Evidence

But in the end the aid provided by the British was, as one embittered colonist wrote, “limited to sterile wishes and useless demonstrations.” Pitt apparently responded to the news of the insurrection by commenting dryly: “It seems the French will be drinking their coffee with caramel.” Whatever sympathies the white slave owners of the Caribbean might have for one another, the competition between empires was ultimately more important to the British, and when they finally did come to Saint-Domingue, it would be as invaders seeking internal allies in a war of conquest rather than as friends providing aid. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 399

Categorization

• SHARE: Pitt’s ‘coffee with caramel’ quip is a delicious, giftable one-liner for anyone into imperial history or dark comedy in historical sources.