Why did Martha's Vineyard Sign Language develop?
-Martha's Vineyard was home to many teachers and activists who saw the need for a
compressive language for the Deaf.
-The founder of French Sign Language, which heavily influenced ASL, visited -Martha's Vineyard in
the nineteenth century.
Martha's Vineyard Sign Language was created to understand slang terms of that time period.
-There was a hereditary form of deafness in the community,