Page d'histoire: Mefaits de l'occupation Americaine (1914-19

Both Haitian Presidents: Nicolas Geffrard and Nissage Saget may have been right in their apprehension about US intention, since history will prove them right, in 1915 during the failed Haitian Presidency of Vilbrun Guillaume Sam and the U.S. President Wilson administration.

When political in fighting caused by poor financial planning (The Haitian government had just taken a big loan from the French Government, for the ultimate purpose of creating the Haitian National Bank not to mention some ongoing uneasiness over Belgium and other European countries investment in the Haitian cultivation of coffee and coccoa for Europe) managed by weak nationalists and unstable successions of short-lived feudal Haitian governments, gave the US the opportunity and the excuse: not only to occupy Haiti militarily with the naval and land invasion on July 28th, 1915 led by Admiral Capertown aboard the Navy ship, Washington, which was stationed in Cap-Haitien since July 1st, under the pretense of protecting the lives and properties of North Americans and foreigners.

It is rather an ironic historic fact that: when the US marines landed on the beach of Bizoton near the Haitian Capital of Port-au-Prince, they were guided by four Haitian marines.

Capertown during the invasion had also dispathched from the US base of Guantanamo Cuba, the US destroyer Jason with the 24th company of marines, and also from Philadelphia arrived reinforcement for the invasion of Haiti, the following US battle ships: the Connecticut, the Eagle and the Nashville with five companies of the second regiment of Marines, under the command of US Colonel E. Coles.

This was also a financial occupation as President Wilson would admit later.

The Haitian economic system was taken over, beginning with: the custody of the gold reserve, the Haitian customs, the control of Haiti's national Bank etc...

From that point almost all fiscal and financial matters had to be approved by the state department of the occupying forces. There was also a quasi take over of all Haitian ministries by US generals originally of the mostly still segregated US deep south.

A US general even headed the Haitian ministry of Education.
During the occupation, Haiti lost its pride and autodetermination as a sovereign nation, and seems to have lost also the control of its destiny as the sister republic nation, which had as much right to be guided by the aspiration of its own people, as its strong neighbor on the North would want for its own people.

The US agricultural based investment companies and merchants on Wall street stand to benefit the most from the US occupation.

The small Haitians family farm with the blessing and complicity of the Haitian government were sold to large US company such as: HASCO (Haitian American Sugar Company, established in 1915 over 24,000 acres scatered between Leogane and the Plaine du Cul de Sac.)

During the occupation US companies used previous right to operate, acquired during the shameful railroad and Mac Donald financial contract (Le contrat de la Honte), negotiated by the Gorvernment of Antoine Simon (1908-1911) with some American financial institutions and advisers, who took advantage of Antoine Simon's government enlightened desire to modernise Haiti

(During the progressive government of Antoine Simon: Port-au-Prince was modernized with the creation of the first electrical power plant, which provided electricity around the clock for the entire metropolitan capital, the vast majority of the streets of Port-au-Prince were paved, the first Ford model cars were introduced in the country and the wharf of Port-au-Prince was built in the bay to allow the docking of modern cargo ships and facilitate the export of Haitian goods and the import of modern foreign goods).

In the 1910 Mac Donald/US National rail road contract, the Haitian government of Antoine Simon allowed the US National Railroad Company to use for 50 years free of charge, the right to plant bananas on 20 kilometers on either side of any rail road track built on route proposed to cross the West Department with main train station in Port-au-Prince, to also cover the Artibonite Department with train station in Gonaives, the Northwest deparment with train station in Port-de-Paix and the North department with main train station in Cap Haitien.

Small sections of working rail road tracks used by trains/locomotives in Haiti to carry passengers and goods were only built by the "Compagnie Nationale des Chemins de Fer D'Haiti" which had a contract much earlier in 1906 during the Nord Alexis government to: supposedly build rail roads links from Port-au-Prince to Cap Haitien, Gonaives to Hinche and Cap Haitien to Grande Riviere Du Nord.

However, only two rail road links were built between Port-au-Prince to Saint Marc and Saint Marc to Verrettes. Very little was done concretely to honor the 1910 "Mac Donald/US National rail road" contract to the satisfaction of the Haitian population.

This would cause discontents within the angered Haitian society and will serve as fuel for the second Cacos uprising of February 1911 in the North of Haiti.

The often suspect and ill conceived financial contracts with the North Americans (Le contrat de la honte) and lack of executions of proposed plans for development, coupled with inability to repay loans acquired by the Haitian government from European and American financiers, would ruin the Haitian economy and pave the way for the US occupation forces.

The North Americans would then directly take over the Haitian finances, after being misled by promise to help when the Haitian government were seeking financial security, so it could pay for development and calm down the dischanted soldiers of the Cacos revolutionaries army, which was expanding in numbers as "nouveaux pauvres" peasants continued to join their ranks near Ouanaminthe and other remote locations of the Haitian territory.

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