GED Social Studies: Haiti’s History
Hey everyone, isn’t it just horrible what happened in Haiti? If you haven’t heard yet, you can donate $10 to the Red Cross by texting “HAITI” to the number 90999, and the money will be added to your next phone bill. Or you can go redcross.org and donate there. I picked a practice question today that talks about Haiti’s past–particularly about the language they speak.
photo taken by dominic arizona : azfoto.com
- In the early 15th century, the Spanish took control of the island of Hispaniola for its gold, killing many of the indigenous peoples with disease.
- In the 16th century, Africans were brought to the island as slaves.
- Many French pirates made their homes on the western shores of Hispaniola.
- France eventually gained control over the western portion of the island, and many battles for independence were fought until 1804, when independence was won, and the nation was renamed to Haiti.
- In the 20th century, the United states occupied Haiti in an attempt to help stabilize their government. During this time, Haitian Creole was also accepted as an official language of Haiti, particularly in education.
- Throughout the turbulent years of Haiti’s past, many Haitians have left to try and make a better life for themselves in other parts of the Caribbean and North America.
Today, virtually all Haitians speak Haitian Creole while French is used predominately in business and education. A creole language is one that is made up of many other languages. Haitian Creole is the most stable and widely spoken creole language today. Which of the following answers helps to best explain why this is?
1. Haitian Creole has been accepted as an official creole language.
2. Haiti and its language has been influenced by many different foreign cultures throughout the years.
3. Haitians have spread out across the Caribbean and North America, helping to spread the creole language.
4. All of the above.
5. None of the above.
Creole languages sure are interesting! In fact, if you find yourself down in Florida, you can hear Haitian Creole in some places like Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach. The dialects of the south in general are so varied, and I bet it has something to do with the fact that a lot of immigrants come up from places like Haiti, Cuba, and other Caribbean islands.
Ok, so number one says that Haitian Creole has been accepted as an official creole language. Well that’s right for sure! The fifth bullet says that, “Haitian Creole was accepted as an official language of Haiti.” So it’s answer one, right? But I should probably look over the other answers just to be safe.
Number two also seems right. After all, there were originally the indigenous peoples who lived there, then the Spaniards came, then the Africans, then the French, plus pirates lived there and they’re from all over! Finally, the US occupied Haiti, and Haiti’s not even that far away from the United States, so that’s a lot of cultures and languages effecting one place… Hm, let’s keep going.
Number three is definitely right too. The last bullet says that the Haitians have moved to other parts of the Caribbean and North America, and that would definitely help to spread the language, just like how the British spread themselves around a lot too, and English is spoken just about everywhere I think! Though I don’t know if that’s ’cause of the British necessarily or ’cause everyone watches American TV nowadays… But anyway, that seems pretty darn correct.
So it must be number four, ’cause all the first ones were definitely right. And that means number five is definitely wrong. It’s a good thing I looked over the rest of the answers, or else if I were in a real testing situation, I might have just marked number one as correct, then gotten the question wrong. Always remember to read all the answers first so you don’t get tripped up by these kinds of questions.
Keep studying, and good luck!
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