they didn t want to contribute to the wealth of a nation born of a slavery b rebellion. france even demanded a sum of reparations to compensate for the loss of human property, meaning slaves, from the war. in 1825 the haitian president agreed and the debt crippled the country, which could only pay it back in full by 1947. in 1914, washington decided to intervene in the country s affairs, largely to stabilize its finances and debt payments. that occupation lasted until 1934 but washington effectively controlled the country for years after that. all this foreign domination marked haiti s political culture indelably. understandably suspicious of western countries, haiti did not try to get much in forms of investment or trade. in the years after independence, the merchant class and the army