History of Sign Language?

Question

How did sign language start in American?

Answer 1

The exact beginnings of ASL are not clear. Many people believe that ASL came mostly from French Sign Language (FSL). Others claim that the foundation for ASL existed before FSL was introduced in America in 1817. It was in that year that a French teacher named Laurent Clerc, brought to the United States by Thomas Gallaudet, founded the first school for the deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. Clerc began teaching FSL to Americans, though many of his students were already fluent in their own forms of local, natural sign language.
Today's ASL likely contains some of this early American signing. Which language had more to do with the formation of modern ASL is difficult to prove.
Modern ASL and FSL share some elements, including a substantial amount of vocabulary. However, they are not mutually comprehensible

Answer 2

Sign language didn't start in America. It has been around just about as long as mankind. Sign language was used to a large extent as a means of communication when people did not speak the same language. The pilgrims and early settlers used sign language to communicate with the American Indians.

The ASL or American Sign Language has it's roots in Europe. The Abbe De l'Eppe in the 18th century in France used the method that ASL was derived from to teach the deaf.

Answer 3

Is this for high-school or college-level homework?

Without giving you the answers, I'll give you some references to look up in the library:

"The journal Sign Language Studies from Gallaudet University Press has published articles about the history of sign language."

"The Perigee Visual Dictionary of Signing" by Rod R. Butterworth and Mickey Flodin, published by The Berkley Publishing Group, 1995" seems to have a introduction with good, succinct information

and from the wiki "Congregationalist minister and deaf educator Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet is credited with popularizing the signing technique in North America. At the behest of a father who was interested in educating his deaf daughter, Alice Cogswell, he was enlisted to investigate methods of teaching the deaf. In the early 1800s he visited the Abbé de l'Épée's school in Paris and convinced one of the teachers, Laurent Clerc, to return with him to America. In 1817 they founded the American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb (now the American School for the Deaf), in Hartford, Connecticut, to teach sign language to American deaf students.

It was at this school that all these influences would intermingle, interact and what would become ASL was born."

It seems that Old French Sign Language and pre-existing American languages blended together in the early 19th century at Galludet's first university

Answer 4

it was brought over from France. a French man (i cannot remeber his name now) came over with an American and together they began teaching Deaf Americans to sign.

the roots of the signs them selves originate from old French signs, the signs have canged over time, and the two languages no longer resemble each other.

Answer 5

Lots of info on these websites:
http://www.westislandlife.com/asl/history.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ridge/9672/HistoryASL.html

Answer 6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Sign_Language#History_of_ASL

Answer 7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_sign_language

http://www.westislandlife.com/asl/history.htm

http://www2.uic.edu/stud_orgs/cultures/daa/ASLHistory.html