29028: Senechal (reply) Re: 29011: Senou (Question) When la Navase or Navassa Island became a U.S. te... (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JSenechal@aol.com

NAVASSA ISLAND, in French: La Navase, Spanish: Navasa, in Haitian Creole:
Lanavaz, became a U.S.A. territory in 1857 according the U.S. Congress "Guano
Act" of 1856. This Guano Act declared that any unclaimed and uninhabited island
 anywhere in the world that possessed "GUANO," ( birds droppings in various
stages of petrification) was U.S. territory if an American citizen claimed  it
first. This is the Law of the Mighty over the Weak for those who believe in
JUSTICE and INTERNATIONAL LAW. Haiti protested the annexation and claimed the
island according to its constitutions of 1801,1805, 1808, 1816, 1843, 1846,
1849, 1867, 1874.

 General Toussaint Louverture took over the Island of Santo Domingo in
January 27, 1801 which had been ceded to France by the Treaty of Bale in 1795.
Louverture wrote the first Constitution in 1801 and the first Article stated: "
The whole territory and Samana, La Tortue, La Gonave, Les Cayemites,
L'ile-a-Vaches, La Saone as well as the adjacent islands  constitute the 
territory of
one colony which is part of the French Empire. After  the independence of
Haiti, similar language was used in the articles dealing  with sovereignty over
the adjacent islands. With the  Constitution of 1874, the language regarding
sovereignty over the  adjacent islands becomes more precise, the second 
paragraph
of  Article 2 reads as follows: La Tortue, La Gonave, L'ile-a-Vaches, Les
Cayemites,  LA NAVASSE, La Grosse-Caye and all the others which are located
within the limits prescribed by the rights of the people.

Emperor Faustin Soulouque was elected President in 1847. When U.S.A. took
over NAVASSA ISLAND, the Emperor showed a sense of national  dignity. He sends
two war vessels to NAVASSA ISLAND with  instructions to use force to expel the
American settlers. But, the British and  the French  Consuls expressed their
displeased about the actions of  the Haitian government because they were not
"informed," and they were wondering  whether those vessels were going to be
used to launch an invasion of the  Dominican Republic which had declared its
independence in 1844.

The issue of NAVASSA ISLAND is still on the table. This is  the story of
DAVID and GOLIATH or the  LAW of the MIGHTHY over the  WEAK.


Jean-Jacques  SENECHAL
Executive Director
HAITIAN CULTURAL SOCIETY
P.O.BOX 2041
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 11202
TEL: (718) 940-6957
EMAIL: _JSENECHAL@AOL.COM_ (mailto:JSENECHAL@AOL.COM)