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C. Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city in Haiti. In 1492, Christopher Columbus used the remains of the wrecked ship Santa Maria to build a fort called La Navidad in what is now Haiti. The fort became the first European settlement in the Americas when Columbus left 36 sailors behind in La Navidad as he went off to search for gold.
A. The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two thirds of Hispaniola with a population of about 10.5 million people. Combined with Haiti’s 11 million people, Hispaniola is the most populous island in the Caribbean and second largest behind Cuba. On average, Domincans are about six times wealthier than their neighboring Haitians – the poorest people in the Americas.
B. Columbus had claimed Hispaniola for Spain, but French pirates and later French farmers settled in the western part of the island. France and Spain divided the island in 1697. A slave revolt finally forced the French out in 1804. Haiti became the second American country to cast off European rule and declare itself an independent republic.
D. After losing the colony on Hispaniola, French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte agreed to sell the Louisiana Territory to the United States. U.S. migrants extended slavery into the territory, and disputes over the western growth of slavery was the key issue leading to the Civil War. Like Columbus’ claims for Spain, the Louisiana Purchase covered lands actually owned by Native Americans.