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The effects of abolition on african americans and whites
The effects of abolition on african americans and whites
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The significance of strong women accomplishments
“I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.” (Jane Austen, Persuasion). Lawrence Hill’s novel The Book of Negroes portrays many female characters and further reveals the significance of their accomplishments. The Book of Negroes follows the life of Aminata Diallo, as she overcomes the struggles of being an African American woman in a world run by men, and free herself from the chains of slavery. Women are often considered to be the weaker sex, both mentally and physically, throughout Lawrence Hill’s novel, The Book of Negroes the role of strong female characters is shown in their accomplishments,
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further proving the importance of females through their accomplishments. The trade of baby catching is one accomplishment significant to the role of strong female characters. Baby catching is s a skill many of the central female characters in the Book of Negroes possessed, and by learning the trade of delivering babies, Aminata, Georgia, and Sira could help the women who were in labor hopefully have less complications during the process. Growing up in the village of Bayo, Aminata would learn the baby catching trade from her mother, a well-known baby catcher who would help the women in the nearby villages give birth when no one else with the right skills could help, as Aminata once states: “Mama was always wanted when a woman was ready to bring a child to light” (Hill, 18) this quotation proves how well known Sira is in the trade of baby making, as she is always wanted when someone’s giving birth, and would be seen as the best person for the job. Sira would later pass on her knowledge to her daughter Aminata. An essential skill which would help with both her own survival, and the survival of many of the other women who needed her help during labor in the new world. Aminata would be put to work under the guidance of Georgia, who also knew the skill of baby catching, and thus the two of them would help the other women when they went into labor. As majority of the women who would require assistance were slaves, and consequently seen as less than human, so it would not be an importance to get them any help from a trained doctor. It is evident that knowing the baby catching trade is a significant accomplishment carried out by the female characters who saved the lives on women when they were giving birth by helping them deal with any complications that could have occurred while giving birth. Secondly, the medical knowledge learned by the female characters is another significant accomplishment. Many of the central female characters are intellectual and know various tricks to help the sick or treat wounds, making the time working on the plantations more bearable, a task usually given to the women, as the men would be working on the fields so the task of making sure they were healthy fell upon Aminata or Georgia. Conditions on the plantations were not the best and the workers were often left neglected, as they were seen as being less than human. Georgia and Aminata were the only ones who had the most experience when treating wounds they would be the ones who would generally help keep the workers healthy and cure them of any infections or disease in order to help extend their life as the plantation owners would not tolerate the workers when they could not perform their duties. The pox would be a very common disease to have during the time of slavery, Georgia is a woman who knows about many tricks, some of which would help in preventing the pox and by knowing these skills she would be able to help mamed and Aminata escape death. Aminata’s knowledge with medicine also came in handy when living on her own, as she once stated “Often, I was called upon to give doses of tansy or cottonwood and stay with the women as their pregnancies bled out of them” (Hill, 391) This proves how in many instances, if the women would be raped or if The Women at holy ground were impregnated by the British soldiers and were no longer seen as being desirable, Aminata would help get rid of the unborn child. Which helped the ladies as in many cases they would not be able to take care of their young. In conclusion, medical knowledge is an accomplishment significant to the role of the strong female characters. In addition, Aminata’s involvement with helping write the Book of Negroes is another significant accomplishment which plays an important part in helping to free the civilians of canvas town.
Aminata is a strong female character with the ability to read and write which allowed her to help fill out the Book of Negroes, a ledger recording the names of the people who were being freed and being taken to Nova Scotia. As the novel once states:
There will be plenty for everyone in the vastness of Nova
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Scotia…You will spread the word among your people, you will help us register them. In due time, you will collect names, ages, and how they came to serve the British… we need to know how many wish to travel. And we need to be embarkations almost immediately (Hill,400- 401) This quote concludes, how due to Aminata’s literacy skills she could help bring the civilians of canvas town to Nova Scotia they would have a better life with more freedom. As James Walker described in his book, on the topic of black loyalists: One further characteristic that frequently distinguished the Black Loyalists from other runaway slaves was the ideal he held of the objective of his freedom: It was to become self- sufficient and secure the British justice in his rights as a subject of the crown.
The passage to Nova Scotia was therefore
regarded not merely as an escape from slavery, but as an entry to a new world
where the dignity and independence that came of equal citizenship were to
be his (Walker,18)
this quote summarizes that with the help of Aminata who would write the names of the black loyalists into the Book of negroes; The people of canvas town could escape the fear of being captured by slave owners and taken back to their plantation. Not only that, but it also gave the civilians hope for the future in the new land where they would be free. In Conclusion, Aminata played an important part in filling out the pages of the original Book of Negroes, and leading the people of canvas town to a better land.
Another significant accomplishment from a strong female character would be Aminata and her involvement with the abolitionists. As the Abolitionists were trying to ban slavery, Aminata is given the opportunity to tell her story to the world. Thus, raising awareness about slavery and the horrid conditions the captives were put though. It is only when Aminata escapes the men who were planning on selling her to slave owners that she has an epiphany,
stating: I understood what I had to do. If I managed to escape Assane and his men, I could do whatever I could so that nobody else fell into his hands-or the hands of any other slave trader. (Hill, 617) Evidently, Aminata then realizes that if she didn’t try to do everything she could to abolish slavery, someone else would fall victim to Assane and his men. Thus, Aminata chose to tell her story to the abolitionists, and help raise awareness about what horrible conditions the slaves were forced to undergo. The publicly Aminata got from helping the abolitionists by telling her story to the world, and allowing the public to open their eyes to see the real pictures of what was really going on around them. As majority of the public were unaware of the conditions the slaves were undergoing each day. In conclusion, Aminata’s role as a strong female character, could spread the word about the mistreatment of slaves to ban slavery. Finally, Aminata’s role as an educator in canvas town, is a significant accomplishment which provided the civilians with new opportunities. During her stay in canvas town, Aminata would accomplish many great things significant to the lives of others , including how she could better educate the citizens of canvas town who were deprived of their right to learn.
The black women’s interaction with her oppressive environment during Revolutionary period or the antebellum America was the only way of her survival. Playing her role, and being part of her community that is not always pleasant takes a lot of courage, and optimism for better tomorrow. The autonomy of a slave women still existed even if most of her natural rights were taken. As opposed to her counterparts
Before delving into the specifics of enslavement conditions in the New World, a peek into the slavery
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.
In conclusion, Aminata is working for the Abolitionists in London, England, when she is older. She is able to dress herself now however she sees fit and this seems to represent the freedom that she has won. On the other hand, does she really possess freedom, since she is still being used and manipulated for a cause, this cause being the end of the slave trade routes in Britain, and not the end of the practice of slavery? In telling her story, Hill makes the reader understand how dehumanizing slavery was and that it started with nakedness.
It is impossible for anyone to survive a horrible event in their life without a relationship to have to keep them alive. The connection and emotional bond between the person suffering and the other is sometimes all they need to survive. On the other hand, not having anyone to believe in can make death appear easier than life allowing the person to give up instead of fighting for survival. In The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, Aminata Diallo survives her course through slavery by remembering her family and the friends that she makes. Aminata is taught by her mother, Sira to deliver babies in the villages of her homeland. This skill proves to be very valuable to Aminata as it helps her deliver her friends babies and create a source of income. Aminata’s father taught Aminata to write small words in the dirt when she was small. Throughout the rest of the novel, Aminata carries this love for learning new things to the places that she travels and it inspires her to accept the opportunities given to her to learn how to write, read maps, and perform accounting duties. Early in the novel Aminata meets Chekura and they establish a strong relationship. Eventually they get married but they are separated numerous times after. Aminata continuously remembers and holds onto her times with Chekura amidst all of her troubles. CHILDREN. The only reason why Aminata Diallo does not die during her journey into and out of slavery is because she believes strongly in her parents, husband and children; therefore proving that people survive hardships only when they have relationships in which to believe.
I recommend Ar’n’t I a Woman? to anyone, of any race, of either sex, and with any interests, because I believe this book has something to offer everyone. White’s writing has the power to totally transform her readers’ understanding, emotions, and opinions. After reading the novel, I will never again view the institution of slavery the same way. If this book does not completely change your opinion of slavery and leave you with a richer appreciation for the resilience demonstrated by the female slaves, then you have not really read it! Alexandra the Great has spoken, therefore, it is official, Deborah Gray White’s Ar’n’t I a Woman? is a literary masterpiece!
The Author of this book (On our own terms: race, class, and gender in the lives of African American Women) Leith Mullings seeks to explore the modern and historical lives of African American women on the issues of race, class and gender. Mullings does this in a very analytical way using a collection of essays written and collected over a twenty five year period. The author’s systematic format best explains her point of view. The book explores issues such as family, work and health comparing and contrasting between white and black women as well as between men and women of both races.
Klein, Herbert S. The middle passage: Comparative studies in the Atlantic slave trade. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press , 1978. 282. Print.
Karenga, Malauna. Introduction to Black Studies. Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press Third Edition, 2002.
For this very reason Jacobs uses the pseudonym Linda Brent to narrate her first-person experience, which I intend to use interchangeably throughout the essay, since I am referencing the same person. All throughout the narrative, Jacobs explores the struggles and sexual abuse that female slaves faced on plantations as well as their efforts to practice motherhood and protect their children from the horrors of the slave trade. Jacobs’ literary efforts are addressed to white women in the North who do not fully comprehend the evils of slavery. She makes direct appeals to their humanity to expand their knowledge and influence their thoughts about slavery as an institution, holding strong to the credo that the pen is mightier than the sword and is colorful enough to make a difference and change the the stereotypes of the black and white
Slavery was the core of the North and South’s conflict. Slavery has existed in the New World since the seventeenth century prior to it being exclusive to race. During those times there were few social and political concerns about slavery. Initially, slaves were considered indentured servants who will eventually be set free after paying their debt(s) to the owner. In some cases, the owners were African with white servants. However, over time the slavery became exclusive to Africans and was no limited to a specific timeframe, but life. In addition, the treatment of slaves worsens from the Atlantic Slave trade to th...
There is no other experience in history where innocent African Americans encountered such a brutal torment. This infamous ordeal is called the Middle Passage or the “middle leg” of the Triangular Trade, which was the forceful voyage of African Americans from Africa to the New World. The Africans were taken from their homeland, boarded onto the dreadful ships, and scattered into the New World as slaves. 10- 16 million Africans were shipped across the Atlantic during the 1500’s to the 1900’s and 10- 15 percent of them died during the voyage. Millions of men, women, and children left behind their personal possessions and loved ones that will never be seen again. Not only were the Africans limited to freedom, but also lost their identity in the process. Kidnapped from their lives that throbbed with numerous possibilities of greatness were now out of sight and thrown into the never-ending pile of waste. The loathsome and inhuman circumstances that the Africans had to face truly describe the great wrongdoing of the Middle Passage.
Throughout the story of "The Book of Negroes" Aminata suffered most of her life trials and tribulations. After being sold to work in an indigo plantation Aminata is raised by Georgia, an older woman, who continues to help Aminata form her identity and rise against the plantation owner, Robinson Appleby for mistreating
Throughout American Literature, women have been depicted in many different ways. The portrayal of women in American Literature is often influenced by an author's personal experience or a frequent societal stereotype of women and their position. Often times, male authors interpret society’s views of women in a completely different nature than a female author would. While F. Scott Fitzgerald may represent his main female character as a victim in the 1920’s, Zora Neale Hurston portrays hers as a strong, free-spirited, and independent woman only a decade later in the 1930’s.
The word “slavery” brings back horrific memories of human beings. Bought and sold as property, and dehumanized with the risk and implementation of violence, at times nearly inhumane. The majority of people in the United States assumes and assures that slavery was eliminated during the nineteenth century with the Emancipation Proclamation. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth; rather, slavery and the global slave trade continue to thrive till this day. In fact, it is likely that more individuals are becoming victims of human trafficking across borders against their will compared to the vast number of slaves that we know in earlier times. Slavery is no longer about legal ownership asserted, but instead legal ownership avoided, the thought provoking idea that with old slavery, slaves were maintained, compared to modern day slavery in which slaves are nearly disposable, under the same institutionalized systems in which violence and economic control over the disadvantaged is the common way of life. Modern day slavery is insidious to the public but still detrimental if not more than old American slavery.