U.S Intervention in Haiti

Charlie Spinale

5/24/13

F period

U.S Intervention in Haiti

Question: What do many Americans in Haiti think of Haitians, and how do they (Americans) treat them (Haitians)?

                The United States has a false conception on the Haitian people, Americans view the Haitians as “Barbaric”, “incapable of advancement”, and “unfit to govern themselves”. Most Americans consider the Haitian people as ignorant, when they themselves are ignorant to the truth of them.

                The city of Port-au-Prince is one of the most beautiful and tropical city known in Haiti. Americans are surprised to see such an incredible city in Haiti and they believe the only way the city is this way is due to the “American Occupation”.  This theory is wrong; this well-kept city was completely created by the intelligent hands of the Haitians who spent years creating a sweeping habit to keep the city so clean. In the rural districts women are noticed carefully sweeping their yards until they were clean as a floor. Although the Haitians are dressed in rags, this is all they can afford, and their clothing is washed frequently. Haitians quality of clothing may be a reason Americans views them as dirty people even though the clothing is always cleaned and a dirty Haitian is very rare. Haiti may be not considered a clean country, but statistics can change American conceptions. Haiti imports more soap per capita than any country in the world. Three of the largest soap manufacturers in the U.S have headquarters at Port-au-Prince. Americans also have a theory that Haitians are lazy, this theory is completely false.  Travelers are struck with disbelief when they see thousands of Haitians with the produce of their farms and gardens on their heads. Another false aspect Haitians are accused of being is ignorant and degrading. The Haitians were studied and they are kind, courteous and hospitable people who live a simple life. Their simple lives lead to a life almost completely free of crime and horrible things like prostitution.

                The Haitians are truly kind people who live a simple life. Americans treated them horribly and butchered thousands. During the “American Occupation” in Haiti Americans did nearly nothing to benefit Haiti's people. Only three things were found to benefit the Haitian people in the time of the “American Occupation”. There were improvements to the public hospital at Port-au-Prince, enforcement rules on sanitation, and lastly the building of the great road to Cape Haitian. The building of this road was completed due to horrific forced labor. Haitian men were taken from country roads and off their farms and forced to work. They were kept in locked compounds where they were held under their will and brutally beaten. Many Haitians escaped to the hills and planned to rebel. The United States made no effort to improve education they didn't even make the effort to send American teachers to help in impoverished school areas. The “American Occupation” was a complete udder failure. Nothing that the United States did in Haiti justifies it's military occupation there.

                The United States clearly does not understand the Haiti people for the courteous simple people that they are.  We have carried American prejudice to Haiti. The American military occupation in Haiti was a failure. There are only a few examples were America was benefiting the people of Haiti and within those examples we have taken advantage of the them and butchered thousands, the “American Occupation” in Haiti was degrading towards our country and how people view us. 

Breaking Barrier Project Video: Oprah Winfrey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqFsiDpzvnk

Class: 5/23/13 + 5/24/13

Yesterday (5/23/13), we went to the computer lab and worked on worksheets about United States intervention in Haiti and Latin America. The United States was mainly involved in Central America and the Caribbean due to financial issues and they were interested in building a canal. Most of these Caribbean countries at this time were politically unstable and impoverished. We also viewed pictures of Mexico from the revolutions. The revolution affected the people of Mexico greatly. There were barricades set up everywhere, people had to go to charity facilities, and citizens were forced to deal with all aspects of war that was surrounding them. Today (5/24/13) we worked on our Triton 16% Smithsonian Quests. 

Class Updates: 5/21/13 and 5/22/13

Yesterday (5/21/13) and today (5/22/13) we worked on worksheets about the Monroe Doctrine and Roosevelt Corollary. The Monroe Doctrine was a policy of the United that said any efforts by European nations to colonize land or interfere with states in North or South America would be viewed as acts of aggression. The Roosevelt Corollary states that the United States will become involved in conflicts between European Nations and Latin American countries to enforce claims of the European powers. Instead of having the Europeans press their claims directly.  We examined each part peace by peace, found key words, and summarized it in our own words. We then put everyone’s summary of each section of the document together. 

Class: 5/17/13 & 5/20/13

On Friday (5/17/13) we shared the Yellow Journalism headlines we created and then decided which headlines were the most catchy and interesting. I noticed that our class picked a lot of the same headlines showing that Yellow Journalism can really catch people’s attention. Today (5/20/13) we depicted a couple political cartoons that showed what Teddy Roosevelt did involving the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal was first started by the French but they were unsuccessful and the project went bankrupt, later on the U.S finished the Canal after the rebellion of Panama and Columbia. We then read a speech Roosevelt wrote and broke it apart. We decided whether or not his actions in Panama were justified. I think Roosevelt’s actions were justified because the Panama Canal was extremely successful. 

Class Updates: 5.14.13 & 5.15.13

Yesterday (5/14/13) we had MCAS again so we just worked on are Smithsonian Quests. Today in class (5/15/13) we talked about Yellow Journalism. Yellow Journalism is types of journalism were news is poorly researched and most of the time completely exaggerated. It’s presented to the public with a catchy headline so more people will buy/read the newspaper. We created Yellow Journalism Headlines in class today for the 1890's, Alaska, Hawaii, Cuba Libre, Weyler and reconcentracion, yellow journalism, war fever, the Maine, and Cautious McKinley. My headline for Alaska was “7.2 MILLION FOR MILES OF ICE.” When Alaska was purchased from Russian in 1867, Secretary of State William Seward purchased it for 7.2 million dollars. Although the land was a great investment due to the mineral wealth and animal resources, Seward was criticized because back then most people thought Alaska was just miles of ice and nothing else. When he bought Alaska Americans called it “Seward’s Folly” and “Seward’s Icebox.” 

Updates: 5.10.13 & 5.13.13

On Friday (5/10/13) we read a story called “To Build a Fire” by Jack London.  The story took place in Alaska during the winter. While reading the story we had to decide if the man in the story was surviving off of natural instinct or if he was surviving due to attained knowledge. Today (5/13/13) we had MCAS, in class we worked on our Smithsonian Quests.