Founded in Cap François, Saint Domingue (now Haiti) in August 1785, the Cercle des Philadelphes was one of the most prestigious colonial learned societies of the Ancien Regime. During its brief seven year existence, the Cercle pursued an agenda of promoting improvements in agriculture, manufactures, the arts and sciences, published five volumes of memoirs, and established correspondence with their peers in the American Philosophical Society and other learned societies. Their foreign membership included both Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush.