Abina and The Important Men
In the novel, Abina And The Important Men written by Trevor Getz and Liz Clarke, Abina who is a woman from West Africa who was wrongfully enslaved and decided to bring it to the attention of the courts in 1876. While reading this book, the reader begins to see how the officials in Britain where turning a blind eye to the fact that slavery was indeed present all for the sake of maintaining there economic status as well as maintaining good relations with the “important men” of West Africa. Palm oil is one of the most valuable as well as important harvests and the men described in the book as the head of production are equally as valuable. The power and authority that these men have on the growth of the economy is what allows the reader to see that these men are the “important men”. Because palm oil is an important factor in the economic status of West Africa, the men who are in charge of producing it are equally as important. Abina believed that her enslavement was without merit and was willing to do whatever it took to get somebody to listen to her and to eventually take the man who did keep her as a slave, to court. Because, the man was a palm oil grower, this case would not be, in the least bit, a silent matter. Thanks to the new laws being enforced against slavery however, Abina’s story would now be put placed in the mercy of Judge William Melton who thought she deserved a fighting chance.
Abina and The Important Men in the Golda Coast in 1876. Since 1874, the English leaders have controlled the Gold Coast and divided the coast into multiple smaller areas that are better known as the Colonies. These smaller colonies were independent on paper but were really under the control of the bigger colony....
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... that one side throughout the whole book. In the United States, in a court of law, the transcripts are always written by a court reporter that is present for every moment of a trial. In the case of Abina and her case, the judge was the one who wrote down everything. It’s a twist to our common beliefs but it also leaves you to wonder, if what was written was biased or even if parts of it were the whole truth. The fact that this story is told through the eyes of the judge makes the reader question whether or not we are actually seeing Abina’s version of events. Abina and the judge were raised and grew up in two completely different worlds, which also can lead to the distortion in the story. The fact that this book gives the reader the chance to choose what they believe is, in my opinion, what makes this book so great and well worth a recommendation to others.
After reading the story, I found I had mixed emotions about it. To explain, when we were getting into detail and finally finding out what really happened the day of June 28th, I found myself completely interested and glued to the book. I also enjoyed the way the incident was explained because I felt like I was there watching it all happen from the great detail. I enjoyed Phillips style of writing because through his writing, he really came off as an intelligent person who is very familiar with the legal system. The book is an easy read, and I liked the non-pretentious style of writing. I did not find myself struggling with reading the book at all, which made the overall experience that much more enjoyable.
Unlike other documentations of the trials against those accused, the reader gets to hear a little bit of Sarah Good and what she has to say. In the examination of Sarah Good she states that she is "falsely accused"; the documentation shows the actual conversation that she has and it makes her appear more personable and seeing as how she is claiming innocence, more wrongful charged as well. The defendants' case even more solidified when more examinations are shown in documentation portraying the blamelessness of Sarah Good in that "she never had familiarity att the devell" This raises the question of how Sarah Good can be charged with conspiring with the devil when she has no familiarity of it.
One prevalent theme found throughout the book is the conflict between finding the truth and the judicial process. The two are almost always incompatible with each other in the courtroom, and A Civil Action illustrates that quite well. The fight for the truth was taken over by trial tactics used by the defendant, whose goal was to keep the truth from getting out. It is natural for the plaintiff and the defendant to use tactics to create the verdict rather than using the facts of the case because both aim for success. Misinformation, partial truths, and hidden facts are common in the courtroom and one scene of A Civil Action shows how it can change the whole trial. People of the courtroom can manipulate the trial so the odds are in their favor. Rarely is truth ever the main focus.
One of the major questions asked about the slave trade is ‘how could so Europeans enslave so many millions of Africans?” Many documents exist and show historians what the slave trade was like. We use these stories to piece together what it must have been to be a slave or a slaver. John Barbot told the story of the slave trade from the perspective of a slaver in his “A Description of the Coasts of North and South Guinea.” Barbot describes the life of African slaves before they entered the slave trade.
Laurence Hill’s novel, The Book of Negroes, uses first-person narrator to depict the whole life ofAminata Diallo, beginning with Bayo, a small village in West Africa, abducting from her family at eleven years old. She witnessed the death of her parents with her own eyes when she was stolen. She was then sent to America and began her slave life. She went through a lot: she lost her children and was informed that her husband was dead. At last she gained freedom again and became an abolitionist against the slave trade. This book uses slave narrative as its genre to present a powerful woman’s life.She was a slave, yes, but she was also an abolitionist. She always held hope in the heart, she resist her dehumanization.
Have you ever went to sleep and woke up, wanting to make a change? It might not be a big change, but it can be something that is beneficial to you and other people. Sometimes you might not know where to start, and it can be tough. We as human beings all have this mindset where we are scared of change. We are already comfortable and use to what’s there and changing it can be risky because we don’t know the outcomes. In the book entitled Abina and the Important Men, by Trevor R. Getz and Liz Clarke is about a woman named Abina, who wakes up one morning and decides that she wants to change the way that women are portrayed in society. Although slaves in the 19th century were considered free, women had a more difficult time achieving freedom
The first topic found in these books is the difference in the roles of women and men slaves. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl gives us the women 's point of view, their lifestyle and their slave duties and roles. On the other hand, The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows us the male side of slavery; the duties and role of men slaves and their way of living their situation. Both books state clearly the roles of both men and women slaves. We can easily observe the fact that slaves’ roles were based on their gender, and the different duties they had based on these roles. This gender role idea was based on American society’s idea of assigning roles based only on gender. Slave men’s role was most of the time simple. Their purpose was mainly physical work. In
One can only imagine the death and destruction that was inflicted in order to ship mass quantities of ivory. The Company’s disrespect for the Africans and their environment was the typical attitude had by many nineteenth century profiteers. Their rationale was that no matter what degree of damage was inflicted, they felt it would never affect them.
Throughout history, it is not uncommon for stories to become silenced; especially, when such a story is being told by the voice of a slave's. Slaves were not granted the same equal rights as the free men. They also were not seen as whole individuals -- worth less than the average citizen, to be sold and traded as property. Abina Mansha was a female slave whom once lived in Asante but came to live in the British Gold Coast Colony during 1876, after being sold to Guamin Eddoo by her husband, Yawawhah. As Abina claims in her testimony, her purchase was no accident. "Slavery had been abolished throughout the British Empire, a law extended into the Gold Coast in 1874. Yet ironically, the demand for laborers on the growing palm oil plantations and in the houses of those who own them means that the trade in slaves into the Gold Coast does not dry up following the war" (Getz and Clark, 2011, p. 6). Abina And The Important Men: A Graphic History written by Trevor R. Getz and Liz Clarke, but spoken in different perspectives, helps shed light on Abina's personal lifestyle; while the date and location provides us with further insight on how the world reacted to 19th century Western culture.
As the United States grew, the institution of slavery became a way of life in the southern states, while northern states began to abolish it. While the majority of free blacks lived in poverty, some were able to establish successful businesses that helped the Black community. Racial discrimination often meant that Blacks were not welcome or would be mistreated in White businesses and other establishments. A comparison of the narratives of Douglass and Jacobs demonstrates the full range of demands and situations that slaves experienced, and the mistreatment that they experienced as well. Jacobs experienced the ongoing sexual harassment from James Norcom, just like numerous slave women experienced sexual abuse or harassment during the slave era. Another issue that faced blacks was the incompetence of the white slave owners and people. In ...
The second person point of view helps the reader to connect with the girl in this story. It shows the reader a better understanding of this character and how she is being raised to be a respectable woman. This point of view also gives us an insight on the life of women and shows us how they fit into their society. Through this point of view, the reader can also identify the important aspects of the social class and culture. The daughter tries to assert a sense of selfhood by replying to the mother but it is visible that the mother is being over whelming and constraining her daughter to prepare her for
The issues he talks about in his book are issues that happened to an entire population. In short, this paper will show the powerful indictment of slavery, passages that provoke emotional responses from the readers and the controversy of his birth place.
Just like any other narrative, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” by Harriet Jacobs is a narrative telling about a slave 's story and what slaves go through as they execute the socioeconomic dictates of their masters. It is important to note that more than five thousand former slaves who were enslaved in North America had given an account of their slave life during the 18th and 19th centuries. Many of their narratives were published on books and newspaper articles. Most of the stories of these slaves were centered on the experiences of life in plantations, small farms owned by the middle class natives, mines and factories in the cities. It is undeniable that without those slave narratives, people today will not be able to know how slaves
Slavery has always been a difficult topic to talk about throughout the centuries’. The issue of race has always been associated with slavery. Ever since the begging of time, slavery and indentured servitude has been seen with a various amount of ethnicities. In the novel we meet Florens, a slave that Mr. Jacob Vaark accepts as a paymen...
"The Life of Olaudah Equiano” is a captivating story in which Equiano, the author, reflects on his life from becoming a slave to a freeman during the 19th century. Through his experiences and writing, Equiano paints a vivid picture of the atrocities and cruelties of European slavery. Ultimately through his narrative, Equiano intends to persuade his audience, the British government, to abolish the Atlantic slave trade as well as alert them of the harsh treatment of slaves. He successfully accomplishes his goal by subtly making arguments through the use of character, action, and setting.