Sayda Vega

04/21/2010

What History Interests Me: Final Investigation about Haiti

Haiti is such an interesting place that has faced many problems in the past. Here is a

brief summary of this wonderful island. According to the book Latin America, by Robert T.

Buckman, its story begins with the arrival of Columbus to this island on 1492. He was the

responsible for naming this island property of the Spanish Crown as La Isla Española or

Hispañola, which later on was changed to Haiti as we know it today.

An important event was the Haitian Revolution on 1804 first lead by some rebel slaves

that afterwards caused that all population of slaves raised their voice to spread the rebellion

through the entire colony in order to obtain freedom. Then, important people such as Jean

Jacques Dessalines, and Napoleon Bonaparte played an important role during this time.

Haiti counts with an area of 27,750 square kilometers, being Port-au-Prince its capital.

According to Encyclopedia of the Nations, “Haiti is one of the most densely populated countries

in the world,” as well as “the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.” Agriculture is

especially what its economy is based on. Haiti is a Republican country that has suffered from

corrupt regimes and violence since a long time ago. One of the most known terrible political

members of Haiti known for this, is Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier (1957-1971).

Haiti is known for having tropical climate and mountainous extensions of land. It counts

with natural sources such as bauxite, copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble and hydropower.

Haiti’s national languages are French and Creole, which is a mixture of Indian, French and

Spanish languages.

On January 2010, Haiti suffered a horrible catastrophe when a 7.0 magnitude

earthquake hit the island leaving more than 316,000 dead people and 1.6 million homeless. It

had eight more aftershocks within the next hour, and it caused a lot of things including main

damages in Port-au-Prince and many buildings and constructions destroyed. It undoubtedly

destroyed Haiti’s economic stability making everything even worse.

As a result of this tragedy, many countries and even famous people tried their best and

worked hard to support this island in need. Each one of them made a valuable contribution to

help Haiti by raising funds, sending food, medical staff, rescue teams and any type of help that

could benefit them. It however, had more complications because after the earthquake around

October, there was an outbreak of cholera which some people believe got it from drinking

infected water. More than 3500 people were treated for diarrhea, fever, vomiting and severe

dehydration.

The money collected went towards providing shelter to about 7,500 families in Haiti and

in fact reconstruct the whole country. So far Haiti is trying to come back to its normal way, even

though it has not been easy, Haitian population is recovering from the terrible loss of their

loved ones as well.

SOURCES

Cabrera, Yvette. Haiti Still Defined by Earthquake: The Country Remains Devastated a Year After the Disaster, but Hope Exists in the Form of Dedicated Young Haitians. SANTA ANA, CA, United States:, 2011. Orange County Register. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.

Robert T. Buckman. Latin America. 44th Edition, Baltimore, MD: Stryker-Post Publications, 2010. Print