1804-1859 1915-1945







Haiti 1859-1915



Under FABRE GEFFRARD (president 1859-1867), Petion's 1816 constitution was reinstated, steps to improve transportation and education were undertaken. A CONCORDATE with the Vaticano was signed (1860). Another influential politician able to implement a number of reforms was ETIENNE FELICITE SALOMON (1879-1888).
Haitian society was deeply split, various groups trying to establish their influence on the presidency. In the years after Solomon and especially in the years 1908-1915, administrations changed frequently. Foreign interests played an increasing role in Haitian politics, notably German investors hoping for profitable returns.
Ecclesiastically, Haiti was part of the Archdiocesis of Santo Domingo until 1861. In that year, following the Concordate, the ARCHDIOCESIS OF PORT-AU-PRINCE was established, with the suffragan dioceses CAP HAITIEN, LES CAYES, GONAYEN and PORT-DE-PAIX.
The island's population, in 1910, was 1,900,000. It's main products were coffee, sugar, cotton, tobacco.
By 1915, Germans were not only controlling much of the state's economy, but the German government was planning to establish a coal station for it's navy. When General-President JEAN VILBRUN-GUILLAUME SAM was murdered by a mob, U.S. forces occupied the country. They were to stay until 1934.





EXTERNAL
FILES 		Haiti, from Library of Congress, Country Studies
Articles from Infoplease : Haiti
Early Haiti 1804-1843, links from Bob Corbett's page on Haiti
Articles from Catholic Encyclopedia : Haiti
DOCUMENTS Historical Flags of Haiti, from FOTW
News from Haiti, in "The Great Round World and What is Going on in it", Vol.1 No.56, December 1897, Vol.1 No.58, December 1897, Vol.1 No.59, December 1897, posted by Gutenberg Library Online
News from Haiti, from New York Times Jan. 31st 2007
REFERENCE Jan Rogozinski, A Brief History of the Caribbean (1992) London : Penguin 1994
Article : Haiti, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1913 pp.1085-1086 [G]
Article : Haiti, in : Statesman's Year Book 1878 pp.543-546, 1895 pp.662-664, 1898 pp.660-663, 1901 pp.751-755, 1905 pp.818-822 [G]
Article : Haiti, in : International Year Book 1898 pp.384-385 [G]
Article : Hayti, in : Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events 1886 pp.422-423, 1894 pp.347-348 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on October 20th 2007

Click here to go Home
Click here to go to Information about KMLA, WHKMLA, the author and webmaster
Click here to go to Statistics