Why The US Occupied Haiti

For the second unit of my last Humanities course of junior year, we were asked to create an organized position on a war being just or not. We specifically targeted wars that the US were involved in, such as World War's I and II. I chose the Occupation of Haiti because I was looking for something different that not many people know about, I saw "Occupation" instead of war and I had to read more. After reading up on the causes and effects of this war, I decided that it was unique enough for me to tackle. This occupation was kind of controversial, but in this case, I believe that the US did what was necessary to protect our country and our allies. This project is one of my favorite projects, where the students can address situations with almost full creative power. I normally never promote war, but this time I have pushed myself to open my horizons and think of the country first. Not the most ideal thought to have in my book, but I am trying to challenge myself as I enter into the last stages of my high school career.

Wikipedia. "United States Occupation of Haiti," Web. 05/11/16

The Occupation of Haiti was what many called "a catastrophe." In 1915, July 28th, Woodrow Wilson ordered 330 US Marines to Haiti, under the influence that foreigners would overthrow the land. The US, being friends with Haiti, thought it would be quite logical to help them fight off Haitian Rebels. That sounds about right, doesn't it? Well, our allies were in trouble and we helped them, but is it really that simple?

US Representatives had the power to veto the Occupation of Haiti, but no such thing happened. Haiti at the time, was using Capitalism. Capitalism is a political system in which private owners profit off the trade and industrial manufacturing of the country, and this could definitely be reason to rebel against the country. The "Cacos," (Haitian rebels) as Americans called them, were quite ruthless in their acts to "purify the country." Haitian rebels were supported heavy by German forces, even though Germany was still recovering from World War I, they still supported the Cacos however they could, including financial investments and additional soldiers. The Cacos also engaged in terrorism and other war crimes against our troops, as well as the Haitian Government and civilians.

The ratification of the Haitian-American Convention allowed the United States to intervene with events that happen in Haiti. With the ratification of this policy, Haiti is vulnerable to US tampering in their country, and the policy also gives the US security and economic oversight of Haiti. The Senate of the US is primarily responsible for this ratification. The US Constitution doesn't seem to contradict the ratification of the Haitian-American Convention policy, although it seems a bit wrong, I feel as if the initial reasoning for this policy was to help Haiti. There is always more negatives and positives though, including 15,000 lives lost during the Occupation of Haiti under the H-A Convention policy. Not to mention the involvement of Germany during their recovery from World War I and the amazing contributions to Haiti's infrastructure.

To wrap things up, I believe that the US Occupation of Haiti was possibly more necessary than we may have thought. The US had legal right to be in Haiti, and that doesn't make it completely right, but the intentions of our country were semi-positive in my opinion. I feel as if Haiti benefited from our supervision. The rebels were going to take over Haiti, and not to mention the constant support of Germany, leaving us more vulnerable for attacks if Haiti was under the control of our foes. So was the Occupation of Haiti just or not? I believe, controversially, that it was.

Works Cited:

globalsecurity. John Pike “Occupation of Haiti (1915-34),” N.D. Web. 12 May. 2016.

windowsonhaiti. Marie-Josée Mont-Reynaud “The Failure of the American Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934,” March. 2002. Web. 12 May. 2016.

Office of The Historian. N.P. “U.S. Invasion and Occupation of Haiti, 1915-34,” N.D. Web. 12 May. 2016.

Wikipedia “United States Occupation of Haiti,” N.D. Web. 12 May. 2016.

SMITHSONIAN. Helen Thompson “The United States Once Invaded and Occupied Haiti,” 3 August. 2015. Web. 12 May. 2016.