Jean Price-Mars, the Haitian Elite and the American Occupation, 1915–1935

199 Pages·1996·22.403 MB·English

by  Magdaline W. Shannon (auth.)

JEAN PRICE-MARS, THE HAITIAN ELITE AND THE
AMERICAN OCCUPATION, 1915-35
Also by Magdaline W. Shannon
SO SPOKE THE UNCLE
Jean Price-Mars, the
Haitian Elite and the
American Occupation,
1915-1935
Magdaline W. Shannon
First published in Great Britain 1996 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-24966-4 ISBN 978-1-349-24964-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-24964-0
First published in the United States of America 1996 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth A venue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-16037-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shannon, Magdaline W., 1914-
Jean Price-Mars, the Haitian elite and the American occupation,
1915-1935 I Mgdaline W. Shannon.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-16037-1
I. Price-Mars, Jean, 1876--1969-Political and social views.
2. Haiti-History-American occupation, 1915-1934. Elite (Social
sciences)-Haiti-Attitudes. 4. Haiti-Relations-United States.
5. United States-Relations-Haiti. I. Title.
FI927.P75S5 1996
972.94'05-dc20 96--13142
CIP
© Magda1ine W. Shannon 1996
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1996 978-0-333-65457-6
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act I 988,
or under the tenns of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottcnham Court
Road, London WI P 9HE.
Any person who docs any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction XI
l. The American Occupation of Haiti
Ideological Justification for American Penetration of the
Caribbean
Establishment of the American Protectorate System 2
Haiti and Foreign Penetration 3
Haitian Resistance to Foreign Interference 5
American Occupation of Haiti 6
The Response of Jean Price-Mars 7
2. The Development of Jean Price-Mars' Position
Regarding the Problems of Haiti, 1876-1915 14
Early Life and Education 14
Higher Education and Political Opportunities 16
Refutation of Prevailing Racial Theories 17
Opposition to Racism 19
Anglo-Saxon vs. French Educational Methods 20
Political Problems 21
The Issue of Public Education 23
The Coming of the Occupation 24
Jean Price-Mars' Evaluation of the Intervention 27
3. Price-Mars' Attempts to Organize the Haitians during
the Early Years of the American Occupation, 1916-18 33
Institution of US Control 34
General Disorganization of Elites vs. Peasant Resistance 35
Price-Mars' Efforts to Rally the Elite 38
Haitian and American Reactions 44
Assessment of the Role of Women and Youth by
Price-Mars 45
Haitian Response to La Vocation de /'Elite 46
4. The Development of Price-Mars' Political, Educational,
and Religious Theories, 1919-29 53
VI Contents
Growth of American Sympathy for Haiti 53
Response of Price-Mars and the Elite to American
Dictatorial Methods 57
Russell-Borno Repression of Haitian Institutions 61
Price-Mars Argues the Viability of Voodoo as a Religion 62
Continuing Criticism of American Policies in Haiti 63
The Reaction of Price-Mars: Ainsi par/a l'Oncle 66
Response of the Haitian Elite to Ainsi par/a l'Oncle 69
5. Price-Mars and the Cataclysmic Events of 1929-30 79
Escalation of Haitian Discontent 80
A Stage in the Evolution of the Haitian People 83
Haitian and American Reaction to Russell's Proclamation
of Martial Law 84
The United Efforts of the Haitian Elite to Regain
Independence 87
Investigation and Recommendations of the Forbes
Commission 90
Reaction to the Forbes and Moton Commissions to Haiti 93
Haitian Legislative and Presidential Elections 95
Price-Mars' Defeat in the Presidential Election 97
6. Price-Mars and the Period of Haitian-American
Adjustment, 1930-3 107
Haitian-American Reaction to the Policy of Gradual
Withdrawal 107
Vincent's Approach to Haitian Divisiveness and the
Position of the Opposition 109
Price-Mars' Prestige Continues Despite his Presidential
Defeat 112
Vincent Seeks Control of the Legislature 116
Legislative Rejection of the Haitian-American Treaty
of 1932 117
Efforts to End American Financial Control of Haiti 119
Political Efforts of Price-Mars 119
Vincent Requests Extraordinary Powers to Control the
Legislature 121
The Executive Accord of 1933 123
7. Price-Mars and the Governmental Transformations of
1933-5 132
Contents VII
Continued Haitian-American Opposition to the
Executive Accord of 1933 132
Opposition of the "Onze" and American Friends to
Vincent's Dictatorial Policies 135
The Success of Vincent's Policies at Home and Abroad 139
Tumultuous Political, Economic, and Social Events in
Haiti 140
Vincent's Efforts to Retain National Political Control 142
Official and Unofficial American Response 143
Vincent Attains Complete Political Power 145
Foreign and Internal Reaction 149
Passive Haitian Acceptance of the Vincent Regime 150
Assessment of Vincent's Policies 151
Prospects of the "Onze," Particularly Price-Mars 153
8. Summary, Overlook, and Conclusions 163
Summary 163
Overlook and Conclusions 174
Index 183
Acknowledgements
The experience of teaching world history to all-black high school classes
in the inner city during the late 1930s and early 1940s kindled my
interest in the contribution of black people to the world's civilizations.
This interest was again brought to the fore during one of our trips to
Haiti in the late 1960s when I read a lengthy front-page article about
the late Dr Jean Price-Mars in Haiti's most distinguished newspaper,
Le Nouvelliste. So my first acknowledgement must be toLe Nouvelliste,
which provided such an excellent account of past and continuing events
in Haiti, even during the country's most perilous times.
My developing concern for the work of Jean Price-Mars culminated
in the publication in 1983 of my translation of his most important
volume, Ainsi par/a /'One/e. His eldest son, Dr Louis Price Mars, a
professor of ethnopsychiatry and former Dean of the Medical School,
had become my most valuable informant. His assistance was crucial in
the process of translating Ainsi into English, not a simple translation
but one which would have the beauty, the cadence, and the rhythm of
the original French - for Jean Price-Mars was not only known for his
scholarship but for his spoken and written eloquence. Louis' wife,
Madeleine, and his sister Marie Madeleine were also excellent sources
of information about Haiti's most renowned scholar. One cannot begin
to mention all of those with whom we spoke in a nation with scholars
so eager for contact with the outside world. First on the list would be
the late Jean Fouchard, at his death the Dean of Haitian historians,
followed of course by Jean-Baptiste Romain, Dean of the Faculty of
Ethnology, and the social demographer, Maurice Lubin. The encour
agement of Zvi and Rachel Loker, Zvi at the time Israel's ambassador
to Haiti and a historian of the Jews in the Caribbean, will always be
remembered. There was also the informative and Cornell University
trained houngan, Max Beauvoir, and his scholarly family. And others
such as the brilliant and informative writer, Aubelin Jolicoeur, in some
respects a man for all seasons and partial model for one of Graham
Greene's best-known novels, a man whom many thought they knew
but really did not.
Many Haitians and non-Haitians who lived there most of their lives
were more helpful than they realized, especially Brother Jean Legendre
Lucien of the Bibliotheque des Freres de St Louis Gonzague in Port-
Acknowledgements ix
au-Prince. It would be remiss not to acknowledge the early help which
the late Mr AI Seitz, famed hotelier of the Grand Hotel Oloffson in
Port-au-Prince, provided, based on his many years of contact with the
Haitian elite.
Of the sources of information in the United States one must com
mence with the National Archives in Washington, D.C., in which I
spent some of my most rewarding weeks through the good offices of
my major professor, now Professor Emeritus of History at the Univer
sity of Iowa, Ellis Hawley. There was also the Library of Congress,
the Marine Corps Historical Center, and the Moorland-Spingarn Re
search Center at Howard University. And in New York the Schomburg
Center for Research in Black Culture of the New York City Public
Library. There were many almost untouched Hoover papers in the Herbert
Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch, Iowa, and other papers
in the Hoover Institution Archives at Stanford. A multitude of staff
members in each of these libraries and archives were of assistance
over the years.
In some respects, more than to most others, I owe an enormous debt
to the staff of the University of Iowa Libraries, all of those who helped
on a daily basis for years. My thanks are deeply extended to Wayne
Rawley III, Director of Instructional and Research Services, and Keith
A. Rageth, Interlibrary Loan Librarian.
Among the historians at the University of Iowa it was Professor
Hawley who focused my attention on Price-Mars in such a way that
my work could become more than simply the story of his failed effort
to become President of Haiti. I could not have produced a volume that
described the enormous contribution of Jean Price-Mars to Haitian society
without his advice and critical assistance.
Magdaline W. Shannon
August 31, 1995