Why the Marines were in Haiti

My Father was in the Marine Corp from 1930 to 1934 - and he was part of the American occupation of this country. We were never told the reasons for this occupation, and I decided recently to find out.

The story was simple. Haiti was originally a colony of France, who used it to grow sugarcane - using slave labor. This was the pattern throughout most of the West Indies.  It had a slave rebellion, got rid of its slave masters, and became a new country. The American president at the time was Thomas Jefferson, and he refused to recognize their country, because he was afraid of a slave rebellion, in the US.

So far, what I have said is history, and the next part is history also - but not a history Americans want to remember. Over the course of the next 130 years, or so, American businessmen gradually acquired most of the agricultural land in Haiti - because the Haitian government was so corrupt. The local people, needless to say - were hostile to this development.

And, as a result, the Marines were called in - to protect American property - that happened to be in another country.