European-Americans in the Louisiana area worry about slave uprisings fueled by the spread of ideas of freedom from the French and Haitian revolutions.

The German Coast—in St. Charles and St. James Parishes, Louisiana—is an area of sugar plantations, with a dense population of enslaved people.

Blacks outnumber whites by nearly five to one according to some accounts.

More than half of those enslaved may have been born outside Louisiana, many in Africa.

The free black population in the overall Territory of Orleans has nearly tripled from 1803 to 1811 to five thousand, with three thousand arriving in 1809–1810 as migrants from Haiti (via Cuba), where in Saint-Domingue they had enjoyed certain rights as gens de couleur.

Territorial Governor William C.C. Claiborne has struggled with the diverse population since the U.S. negotiated the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

Not only are there numerous French and Spanish-speaking people, but there is a much greater proportion of native Africans among the enslaved than in more northern U.S. states.

In addition, the mixed-race Creole and French-speaking population has grown markedly with refugees from Haiti following the successful slave revolution.

The American Claiborne is not used to a society with the number of free people of color that Louisiana has—but he works to continue their role in the militia that had been established under Spanish rule.

He has to deal with the competition for power between long-term French Creole residents and new U.S. settlers in the territory.

Lastly, Claiborne is suspicious that the Spanish might encourage an insurrection.

He struggles to establish and maintain his authority.

The waterways and bayous around New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain make transportation and trade possible, but also provide easy escapes and nearly impenetrable hiding places for runaway slaves.

Some maroon colonies have continued for years within several miles of New Orleans.