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Day 16 - Free Haiti

Day 16 - Free Haiti

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 Content warning for discussion of genocide, torture, mutilation, rape, and slavery Hey, Hi, Hello, this is the History Wizard and welcome back for Day 16 of Have a Day w/ The History Wizard. Thank you to everyone who tuned in for Day 15 last week, and especially thank you to everyone who rated and/or reviewed the podcast. I hope you all learned something last week and I hope the same for this week. This week marks the 7th part of our mini series of currently ongoing genocides and humanitarian crises. Episode 2 was on Palestine, Episode 11 was on Congo, episode 12 was on Sudan, episode 13 was on Xinjiang, episode 14 was on Rakhine State, episode 15 was on Tigray, and today’s episode will focus on the current situation in Haiti. Today’s trip to the Alchemist’s Table will look somewhat similar to last weeks. This drink is called Persephone’s Wedding. It starts with muddled mint before adding some lavender simple syrup and 2 oz of gin. Strain all that over ice and stir for about 30 seconds before topping with lemonade and garnishing with mint. Starting in 1492 Haiti became one of the first European colonies following Columbus's first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean with the settlement at La Navidad. Haiti would remain under European control until their revolution that ended in 1804. We’re glossing pretty heavily over the Haitian Revolution in today’s episode because the Haitian Revolution and the subsequent Haitian Massacre will be a later episode on this podcast. Now, just because Haiti was now an independent nation and no longer a French colony didn’t mean that the country was free of European influence or control. Spain, Germany, and Britain still had large amounts of economic and political sway in the island nation. This would especially be the case when US President Woodrow Wilson, that racist movie loving fuck, sent the Marines to occupy Port au-Prince. Germany was also heavily invested in the island nation, and while the US wasn’t in World War 1 yet, they had severe anxieties over an anti-American, and pro-German, president being installed so they took over the nation, overthrew Vilbrun Guillaume Sam, the then president of Haiti. The Marines declared martial law and severely censored the press. Within weeks, a new pro-U.S. Haitian president, Philippe Sudré Dartiguenave, was installed and a new constitution written that was favorable to the interests of the United States. The constitution (written by future US President Franklin D. Roosevelt) included a clause that allowed, for the first time, foreign ownership of land in Haiti, which was bitterly opposed by the Haitian legislature and citizenry. The US would keep a firm grip on Haitian politics, even after their occupation ended in 1934. Haiti would now enter an even greater period of political instability (which is not to say that US occupation was a good thing, an end of colonial occupation often sees old ethnic tensions flare up and massive violence enacted to dismantle colonial power structures). The president at the end of the occupation, Sténio Vincent was forced to step down under US pressure in 1941 and was replaced by Élie Lescot who served until 1946 when he was overthrown in a military coup d'etat and replaced by Dumarsais Estimé until 1950 when HE was overthrown in a military coup and replaced by the staunchly anti-communist Paul Magloire who was strongly supported by the US. Now despite the massive amounts of political instability that we just discussed, it is about to get worse with the Duvalier dynasty. In 1956–57 Haiti underwent severe political turmoil; Magloire was forced to resign and leave the country in 1956 and he was followed by four short-lived presidencies. In the September 1957 election François Duvalier was elected President of Haiti. Known as 'Papa Doc' and initially popular, Duvalier remained President until his death in 1971. He advanced black interests in the public sector, where over time, people of color had predominated as the educated urban elite. Not trusting the army, despite his frequent purges of officers deemed disloyal, Duvalier created a private militia known as Tontons Macoutes ("Bogeymen"), which maintained order by terrorizing the populace and political opponents. In 1964 Duvalier proclaimed himself 'President for Life'; an uprising against his rule that year in Jérémie was violently suppressed, with the ringleaders publicly executed and hundreds of mixed-raced citizens in the town killed. The bulk of the educated and professional class began leaving the country, and corruption became widespread. Duvalier sought to create a personality cult, identifying himself with Baron Samedi, one of the loa (or lwa), or spirits, of Haitian Vodou. Despite the well-publicized abuses under his rule, Duvalier's firm anti-Communism earned him the support of the Americans, who furnished the country with aid. This is something you will find about the United States. While they style themselves the ...

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