Môle Saint-Nicolas affair (original) (raw)

The Môle Saint-Nicolas affair was an 1891 diplomatic incident between Haiti and the United States when in an act of gunboat diplomacy, President of the United States Benjamin Harrison ordered Rear-Admiral Bancroft Gherardi to persuade the cessation or lease of Môle Saint-Nicolas to the United States in order to establish a naval base for the United States Navy. Following a prolonged request for Gherardi's diplomatic credentials and increased public pressure, Haiti refused the request of the United States.