Background
Haiti was occupied by the United States in 1915. Assistant Secretary of the United States Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt claimed to have drafted a new constitution, which introduced direct election of the Senate, freedom of assembly and the press, and trial by jury. [2] Controversially it initially included a right for non-citizens to own land, [2] and for the American military to intervene in domestic politics. [4]
The National Assembly elected in 1917 refused to adopt the draft constitution and drafted one itself, [2] which excluded the right of non-citizens to own land. [4] While the Assembly was debating its draft, Major Smedley Butler interrupted the session to announce that President Philippe Sudré Dartiguenave had dissolved the legislature, [2] after he forced Dartiguenave to sign a decree to that effect. [4] As there was no legislature in place to adopt the document, it was decided to hold a referendum. [2]
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