United States occupation of Haiti

United States occupation of Haiti
	Part of the Banana Wars
	; Top to bottom, left to right: United States Marines in 1915 defending entrance gate in Cap-Haïtien, United States Marines and a Haitian guide patrolling the jungle during the Battle of Fort Dipitie, United States Navy Curtiss HS-2Ls and other airplanes in Haiti circa 1919
Date	July 28, 1915 – August 1, 1934; (19 years and 4 days)
Location	Haiti
Result	American victory
Belligerents
United States; Haiti	Haitian rebels
Commanders and leaders
Woodrow Wilson; Herbert Hoover; William Banks Caperton; John H. Russell Jr.; Smedley Butler; Philippe Dartiguenave; Louis Borno; Louis Eugène Roy; Sténio Vincent	Charlemagne Péralte †; Benoît Batraville
Strength
First Caco War:; 2,029 Second Caco War:; 1,500 US Marines; 2,700 Haitian Gendarmes	First Caco War:; 5,000
Casualties and losses
First Caco War:; Unknown, a few casualties; 18 wounded; Second Caco War:; 28+ Americans killed, total unknown; 70+ Gendarmes killed, total unknown Total; 146 American deaths	First Caco War:; 200 killed Second Caco War:; 2,000+ killed
	3,250–15,000 Haitian deaths; Hundreds to 5,500 forced labor deaths

The United States occupation of Haiti began on July 28, 1915, when 330 US Marines landed at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after the National City Bank of New York convinced the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, to take control of Haiti's political and financial interests. The July 1915 occupation took place following years of socioeconomic instability within Haiti that culminated with the lynching of President of Haiti Vilbrun Guillaume Sam by a mob angered by his decision to order the executions of political prisoners.

During the occupation, Haiti had three new presidents while the United States ruled as a military regime through martial law led by Marines and the Gendarmerie. A corvée system of forced labor was used by the United States for infrastructure projects, resulting in hundreds to thousands of deaths. Under the occupation, most Haitians continued to live in poverty, while American personnel were well compensated. The American occupation ended the constitutional ban on foreign ownership of land, which had existed since the foundation of Haiti.

The occupation ended on August 1, 1934, after President Franklin D. Roosevelt reaffirmed an August 1933 disengagement agreement. The last contingent of marines departed on August 15, 1934, after a formal transfer of authority to the American-created Gendarmerie of Haiti.