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Resistance to American occupation In 1915, United States military forces landed in Haiti and occupied the country until 1934. American forces deployed throughout the country without major incidents except in Léogâne, where Charlemagne Péralte, commander of the region's military security, refused to lay down his arms and the national flag without receiving official orders from the Haitian authorities. His military and administrative career shattered, he resigned and returned to his hometown of Hinche to tend to his family's land. The United States elected a president, Senate President Philippe Sudre Dartiguenave, and signed a treaty, the legal basis for the occupation, by which they took control of customs and administration. The American administrator had the power of veto over all government decisions in Haiti and Marine officers served in the provinces. Thus, 40% of state revenues came under the direct control of the United States. The army was dissolved in favor of a gendarmerie, intended to maintain internal order. The officers were American. Local institutions, however, continued to be run by Haitians. In 1917, President Philippe Sudre Dartiguenave requested the dissolution of the Assembly which had refused to approve a Constitution inspired by the Secretary of the Navy of the United States: Franklin D. Roosevelt. This was done by the gendarmerie, commanded by the marine Smedley Butler. The Haitian revolt The American occupiers manifested racism. This attitude particularly dismayed and outraged the mulatto, French-speaking and educated elite. In 1918, roads were built under the corvée system. The popular reaction was violent. At the end of the year, the country was in a state of insurrection. The armed peasants, nicknamed "cacos", numbered up to 40,000. Their best-known leaders were Charlemagne Péralte and Benoît Batraville, who attacked the capital, Port-au-Prince, in October 1919. Charlemagne Péralte began harassing the American forces. With weapons limited to a few old rifles and machetes, the Cacos put up such resistance that the Marines were increased in number, and the United States began using its air force to control the territory and crush the guerrillas. After two years of fighting, with the support of the population, Charlemagne Péralte proclaimed a provisional government in northern Haiti in 1919. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlem...