During the French Revolution, thousands of revolutionaries and royalists fled the turmoil in French islands. Many went to nearby islands, from which they could observe events. Situated between Martinique and Guadeloupe, Dominica had a majority French population and a long history of connection with its French neighbors. This article uses the case of Dominica to explore the effects of the French Revolution on a non-French island in the Eastern Caribbean. From the start, its proximity to the French islands led to its entanglement in revolutionary politics. It was the first British island to receive refugees, and the influx of people of all racial, social, and political backgrounds into Dominica posed challenges for island officials. Officials had to determine on what terms to admit emigrants, whether they posed a threat to the colony, and how to feed and house them. They also worried about the influences of foreigners and revolutionary ideas on their own disaffected free and enslaved populations. This article argues that Dominica's location, heterogeneous population, and internal instability allowed it to become a node for regional migration and information networks that embroiled it in the turmoil that engulfed its neighbors and ultimately threatened British control of the island.

在法国大革命期间，成千上万的革命者和保皇党人逃离了法国岛屿的动荡。许多人去了附近的岛屿，从那里他们可以观察事件。多米尼加位于马提尼克岛和瓜德罗普岛之间，法国人口占大多数，与法国邻国有着悠久的联系历史。本文以多米尼加为例，探讨法国大革命对东加勒比海一个非法国岛屿的影响。从一开始，它就靠近法国群岛，导致它与革命政治纠缠不清。这是第一个接收难民的英国岛屿，各种种族、社会和政治背景的人涌入多米尼加，这给岛上的官员带来了挑战。官员们必须决定以什么条件接纳移民，他们是否对殖民地构成威胁，以及如何为他们提供食物和住所。他们还担心外国人和革命思想对他们自己心怀不满的自由和奴隶人口的影响。本文认为，多米尼加的地理位置、异质性人口和内部不稳定使其成为区域移民和信息网络的节点，使其卷入席卷邻国并最终威胁到英国对该岛的控制的动荡。