Jamaican Culture Essay

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I. 'Out of Many, One People', this is the Jamaican motto. This motto can be seen and understood through many elements of Jamaican culture.
II. The history, language, and architecture of Jamaica are three elements that accurately represent the Jamaican motto.
A. The history of Jamaica explains the Jamaicans diverse ethnic past and represents the 'Out of Many' part of the Jamaican motto.
B. Then, the language and architecture of Jamaica explains the effects of the diverse ethnic past and represents the 'One People' part of the Jamaican motto.
Preview Statement: The history, language, and culture of Jamaica combine to make Jamaica the beautiful country that it is and represent the Jamaican motto very well through its diverse past and its unity …show more content…

The original inhabitants of Jamaica were Arawak Indians.
1. However, when Christopher Columbus arrived, the Spaniards took over and because of being enslaved and their lack of immunity to European diseases the Arawaks died.
2. After a couple hundred years, the English arrived and freed the slaves.
3. Unfortunately, the English were interested in growing large amounts of sugar and so slaves were present once again in Jamaica, but this time the slaves were from Africa.
C. After another couple hundred years the slaves were granted freedom and thus is the reason that according to debate.uvm.edu 91.2% of the Jamaican population is African.
Transitional Statement: This mix of European cultures is what shaped many elements of Jamaican culture, and one major element that was influenced was the languages of Jamaica.
II. Although English is the most common language that people think of when Jamaica comes to mind, there is also another language commonly spoken in Jamaica.
A. All of the following information is according to debate.uvm.edu.
B. Now, if you haven't figured out what the two words on the screen mean, you shouldn't because it is the second language spoken in Jamaica and it means "What's happening?" according to the Jamaican children I met. The second language spoken in Jamaica is known by many names such as Patois, Creole, or ungrammatical English. For the sake of this presentation I will refer to it as

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