30204: charles (comment) Re: 30157: Frontana: (reply) Re: 30148: Kathleen (Reply )30138 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: pgcharles@optonline.net

Sorry to have come so late to this thread... After having read several notes on 
this
topic,  I wondered:  what would I find on Google if I typed "Haiti 
independence"?
(since most people use Google as their first source of information). The result 
of the
first page of my search was:

        Haiti Independence: 1 January 1804 (From France)
        History of Haiti - Independence of Haiti
        Haiti - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
        The Haitian Revolution
        Independence Day in Haiti: Celebration of Freedom
        PROCLAMATION OF HAITI'S INDEPENDENCE BY THE GENERAL IN CHIEF, Jean ...
        Act of Independence by Haiti 1804
        Restitution by France to Haiti
        Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti (National Day ...
        NPR : Haiti Marks Bicentennial of Independence
        African American Registry: Independence for Haiti!

Then, I queried Google on "Haiti French Colony". The hits on the first page 
were:

        French colonial empires - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
        Francophonie: Information from Answers.com
        FRENCH CONNECTION :Exhibit celebrates Haiti's historical ties to ...
        BBC NEWS | Americas | France ponders Haiti peace force
        Of Human Bondage
        Ada Ferrer - Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian ...
        African American Registry: Independence for Haiti!

It seems obvious to me, as was suggested by my compatriot, that if the
purpose of the qualification is to enlighten those who don't know anything
about Haiti then it is much more useful for Reuters to start writing:

       "Haiti, the second independent nation in the Americas, ..."

I believe that even Kathleen would agree.

--philippe