...One might think that Atlantic Creoles would have been eager participants in the revolutions of their day, most of which promised freedom for the enslaved and racial equality for those already free. Even as monarchical systems broke down, however, for many Atlantic Creoles they still seemed their best home. In fact, as we ahve seen, Rivas and Rayt and many of the Atlantic Creoles whose histories are recovered here pinned their hopes for freedom on a personal relationship with a distant monarch and on centuries-old legal, religious, and social constructs. This might seem to be anachronistic thinking, even retrograde, for many of these individuals monarchy was, in fact, the best option. King Carlos and King Ferdinand of Spain, King George of England, and King Louis of France actually did free many enslaved persons, who became their loyal subjects and ardent defenders. The slave rebel Macaya compared the three European Kings to the three Magi of the Bible, writing in Saint Domingue that "these three kings are the descendants of those, who, led by a star, came to adore God made man." This interesting understanding of and reverence for kings suggest the powerful symbolic meaning they had for many African-born people and their descendants. On a more practical note, many Atlantic Creoles acquired freedom, propery, and at least limited prosperity under the monarchical rule of Great Britain, France, or Spain. Those Atlantic Creoles who had lived among and knew the racial politics of the southern Patriots who helped create the United States of America understood they could hope for none of those things under that new democracy. The very racial intransigence of Southerners predisposed the Atlantic Creoles to the British and Spanish monarchies, at least initially. Moreover, Atlantic Creoles clearly read the signs of American expansionism and knew the U.S. goverment was bent on returning them to slavery. The Americans were equally determined to rid the land of the indigenous nations that stood in their way, and it is not suprising that both blacks and Seminoles rejected the democracy that demonized them (233). (Landers: Atlantic Creoles)