The History of Haiti

In 19 ten, the haytian government wanted to complete a long stalled project to build a railroad linking porta prince to la cap. They granted very generous leasing terms to an american industrialist named james mac donald. Macdonald's got a 50 year lease to a swath of land 12 miles wide, straddling the proposed rail line. But this swath of land wasno uninhabited wilderness. It was populated by communities and families who had lived there for generations. And since most of the families did not have clear title to the land, they had just been living there for a hundred years,. The dispossession, though, triggered resistance, revolts and attacks on the