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Spanish Influence On American Culture

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Colonial Parent Country Since 5000 BCE indigenous Arawak, Taino and Ciboney people have inhabited the island where Haiti is located. Around 300 BCE, the indigenous began to settle and establish small farming towns. In these small towns, the main economy was farming, fishing and the trade of various luxury goods such as gold and jewelry. The indigenous people called their island Quisqueya. As the years went by, the indigenous developed their society more. However, their growth was interrupted by Spanish conquest.
In the late 1400s, the Spanish had a desire to seek gold and glory through exploration and conquest. In 1492, Christopher Columbus was sent on a voyage, funded by the Spanish monarchs, to find a sea route to Asia. However, instead …show more content…

This revolution was not a short process. The revolution lasted from about 1791 to roughly 1804 which is when the French colony of Saint Domingue was renamed to Haiti. The Haitian Revolution was inspired by the oppression slaves and affranchis suffered under French Rule. Another important influence for the revolution was the 1789 French Revolution. When the slaves heard about the revolution in France, they were inspired to rebel against their oppressive plantation owners. In the late 1700s, affranchis or the mixed-race population became unhappy with the racism that they faced from the French. They also were sickened by the harsh labor that the slaves faced and the cruel treatment of slaves by their wealthy owners. Many people began to speak up and fight against the treatment of …show more content…

One of the major negative effects was the destruction of the environment by French plantation owners. In order to increase their production, the French had to clear forests. This led to a serious issue of deforestation that still continues to plague the Haitian environment. Efforts have been made to stop deforestation, but the attempts have been futile due to lack of money. Besides environmental issues, Haiti has faced economic issues that continue to affect the nation. When Haiti declared independence from France in the early 1800s, Haiti was forced to pay France millions of dollars in order to be recognized as its own nation. This gave Haiti an enormous amount of debt that hindered them from expanding their economy. The government of Haiti was also negatively affected by imperialism. Once Haiti became its own nation, they adopted some of the French government’s flawed policies such as the Napoleonic Code. Although imperialism negatively affected Haiti, it also had a few positive effects. The colonization and independence of Haiti gave hope to Haitian people and those of African descent. After Haiti’s independence, slaves were freed and more and more Africans held political positions and became wealthy. Africans all over now believed that they could gain power and

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