The United States occupation of Haiti began on July 28, 1915, when 330 United States Marines landed at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on the authority of President of the United States Woodrow Wilson, to establish control of Haiti's political and financial interests. The invasion and subsequent occupation was promoted by growing U.S. business interests in Haiti. The July intervention took place following years of socioeconomic instability within Haiti that culminated with the assassination of President of Haiti Vilbrun Guillaume Sam by insurgents angered by his ordered executions of elite opposition. The occupation ended on August 1, 1934, after President Franklin D. Roosevelt reaffirmed an August 1933 disengagement agreement. The last contingent of marines departed on August 15, 1934, after a formal transfer of authority to the U.S.-created Gendarmerie of Haiti.

During the occupation, Haiti had three new presidents, though the United States ruled as a military regime led by Marines and the U.S.-created Haitian gendarmerie through martial law. Two major rebellions occurred during this period, resulting in several thousand Haitians killed and numerous human rights violations – including torture and summary executions – by Marines and the gendarmerie. Corvée labor was utilized for massive infrastructure projects that resulted in hundreds to thousands of deaths. Under the occupation, most Haitians continued to live impoverished lives while the United States re-established power into the hands of a select minority of Haitians, who were wealthy French-cultured mulatto Haitians.