Haiti became independent in 1804 when Dessalines assumed the role of Governor General, later assuming the title of Emperor. After his assassination two years later, a civil war broke out that lasted until 1820. In 1825 France threatened a return to slavery unless Haiti paid reparations in a sum valued today at US$21 billion. Haiti borrowed from American banks at high interest rates and had been paying off this sum to France until 1947.
Border disputes with the Dominican Republic, a number of short-lived presidencies, assassinations, and much unrest, prompted the United States to invade Haiti in 1915 to protect its economic interests. The US’s occupation ended in 1934 but its economic control by way of resident American economic and financial experts remained. Three years later the Parsley Massacre occurred when the Dominican Republic, under the dictator Rafael Trujillo, killed 30,000 Haitians in the border area between the two countries.