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1914-12-17

1914-12-17: (U.S.

Haitian

1914-12-17: (U.S. Marines Seize $500,000 in Gold From the National Bank of Haiti and Ship It to New York, an Act of Financial Piracy That Announced American Intentions Seven Months Before the Full Military Occupation): On December 17, 1914, fifty U.S. Marines landed in Port-au-Prince, entered the National Bank of Haiti, seized $500,000 in gold reserves, and shipped the gold to the National City Bank in New York City for what the Americans described as safekeeping. The seizure occurred during the presidency of Joseph Davilmar Théodore, whose anti-American rhetoric had annoyed U.S. officials already alarmed by the rapid cycle of coups and the growing German economic influence in Haiti during the early years of World War I. The gold seizure was an act of financial piracy disguised as prudential banking. It destroyed Théodore’s prestige, destabilized his government, and announced to every Haitian that the United States viewed their nation’s sovereignty as contingent and their national assets as available for confiscation. Seven months later, the Marines would return in force.