Date of Award
Spring 5-13-2011
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
History
First Advisor
Dr. Ian C. Fletcher
Second Advisor
Dr. Michele Reid-Vazquez
Abstract
Throughout the United States occupation of Haiti from 1915 to 1934, the U.S. government and its supporters were forced to defend the legitimacy of American action. In order to justify it to the American public, officials and journalists created a dichotomy of capacity between an inferior Haiti and a superior U.S., and they presented the occupation as a charitable civilizing mission. This vision of Haiti and Haitians was elaborated in a racialized discourse wherein Haitians were assigned various negative traits that rendered them incapable of self-government. In examining how the New York Times, the National Geographic Magazine, and the Crisis represented Haiti, I demonstrate how race was the primary signifier, and how these representations were used to either perpetuate or challenge the American racial social hierarchy.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/1721954
Recommended Citation
Baroco, Molly M., "Imagining Haiti: Representations of Haiti in the American Press during the U.S. Occupation, 1915-1934." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2011.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/1721954