Abina And The Important Men Analysis

Abina and the Important Men: a Graphical History was written by Trevor R. Getz and Liz Clarke. The story of Abina Mansah is somewhat an inspiring graphical history based on an 1876 court transcript. Abina, a woman of West Africa, was wrongfully enslaved and as a consequence, she took her former master, Quamina Eddoo, to court. The overall setting took place on the Gold Coast during the 19th century. The main scenes take place in the court room, which is filled with many “important men.” The men included a British judge, two Euro African attorneys, countrymen, and an entire jury of wealthy, high class local town leaders. This book is broken down into several parts; the graphical history, transcript, historical

Abina and the important Men is a book that focuses on a young lady whose name is Abina Mansah. Abina Mansah lost her freedom in 1876 from the “Important’’ Men who were British soldiers who invaded the West coast of Africa especially the City of Asante from where Abina live. These British soldiers came to the West Coast of Africa (Gold Coast because they were searching for Gold. This time period is called the Gold rush because Africa has a lot gold as a natural resource. The British also gained a major control of the local trade in West Africa. The British started to imported large numbers of children’s into the colony as worker. Unfortunately Abina was sold by Yaw Awoah who is man from the same town in from where Abina is from (Asante). After

The story of “Abina and the Important Men” takes place in 1876. The English had control over the Gold coast since 1874. The English did away slavery in Britain, but the colonies had a hard time switching from slavery to freedom. This was one of the many major themes of Abina and the Important Men. By definition a civilizing mission is “a rationale for intervention or colonization, proposing to contribute to the spread of colonization”, according to Google.com. The civilizing mission in this story is to expose the encounters modelled by the English political and legal system integrating the Gold Coast.

In Abina and the Important Men, lies a portrayal of daily life and operations of the area of Asante and its relations with British jurisdiction, on the Gold Coast of West Africa in 1876. Specifically, it is a story about a girl from Asante named Asina who is sold into slavery at a very young age and her journey to achieve justice. While Abina’s story was not well documented and well known, it’s brief mention in archived stories arose attention for the powerless and the silenced. Through Abina’s narrative and her fight for justice, and the contextual history of African and British relations, the depiction of “important men” their roles and how they impact her life and people like her are displayed.

Abina and the Important Men: a Graphical History was written by Trevor R. Getz and Liz Clarke. The story of Abina Mansah is somewhat an inspiring graphical history based on an 1876 court transcript. Abina, a woman of West Africa, was wrongfully enslaved and as a consequence, she took her former master, Quamina Eddoo, to court. The overall setting took place on the Gold Coast during the 19th century. The main scenes take place in the court room, which is filled with many “important men.” The men included a British judge, two Euro African attorneys, countrymen, and an entire jury of wealthy, high class local town leaders. This book is broken down into several parts; the graphical history, transcript, historical

In documents one and two, the African American slaves were clearly getting taken advantage of by their white male plantation owner. They are seen as lesser than indentured servants and treated

In a Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave written by himself, the author argues that no one can be enslaved if he or she has the ability to read, write, and think. Douglass supports his claim by first providing details of his attempts to earn an education, and secondly by explaining the conversion of a single slaveholder. The author’s purpose is to reveal the evils of slavery to the wider public in order to gain support for the abolition of his terrifying practice. Based on the purpose of writing the book and the graphic detail of his stories, Douglass is writing to influence people of higher power, such as abolitionists, to abolish the appalling reality of slavery; developing a sympathetic relationship with the

The book Abina and The Important Men a graphic history written by Trevor R. Getz and Liz Clarke examined the social issue of what was defined as a slave in these colonies that were supposed to be abolitionist territory. What makes this book so informative and interesting to study is the fact that Abina who was considered someone who was not important had her voice and standpoint recorded and gave us a perspective that is almost non-existent in current literature about how she believed she was a slave in a colony that made slavery illegal. After reading this graphic history I would argue that in the eyes of the British, who believed they were civilizing these local tribes, this was indeed slavery but it was not an issue important enough to

The understanding of the life of a slave woman is far beyond the knowledge of you or I, unless you have actually been an enslaved woman. These literary elements depicting the passage from this story are the only

the issue of slavery and the rights of the black man in its early stages as a

Starting from a slave’s birth, this cruel process leads to a continuous cycle of abuse, neglect, and inhumane treatment. To some extent, slave holders succeed because they keep most slaves so concerned with survival that they have no time or energy to consider freedom. This is particularly true for plantation slaves where the conditions of slave life are the most difficult and challenging. However, slave holders fail to realize the damage they inadvertently inflict on themselves by upholding slavery and enforcing these austere laws and attitudes.

As Douglass told “ Some years ago, when you were beginning to tell me your real name and birthplace, you may remember I stopped you, and preferred to remain ignorant of all”,only in this case to the upcoming generations of the slaves and their children as they grow older, were prevented from learning how to read and write, as literacy would give them a sense of self‑sufficiency and capability. Ignorance was severely displayed throughout the narrative. The slave owners believed that there is no need to give privileges to the slaves because they don't have a future in where they can put these privileges to use.The slaves are required to behave in a particular manner when they are interacting with their masters. Slave masters regulate fears among the slaves, since it keeps the slaves under ‘control’. When they speak the truth, they are punished by their owners.

In the novel Kindred, by Octavia Butler, the main character Dana is exposed to the brutality and exhausting existence inflicted on slaves in the 1800’s. Through intentionally suppressive measures, slave owners used a series of methods to control and manipulate an entire race of people into submission. Dana describes this process as dulling and her experiences haunt her as she is slowly broken down. “See how easily slave are made?” (Butler 177) her thoughts say; this is Butler attempting to illustrate how it was nearly impossible for the enslaved people to change their situation and fight for freedom. Contemporary people didn’t understand why the slaves didn’t rise up and revolt against the whites, so Butler puts Dana through conditions that eventually show her and the audience it wasn’t that easy. The slaves were too tired to revolt, too broken to fight back, and too connected to each other to leave; thus giving the repulsive entitled whites the ability to continue their disgraceful contempt for human decency. By means of labor and sensational punishment, family ties, surveillance that included slave hierarchy; dreams of revolutions and freedom were overpowered and even Dana becomes complacent accepting the role of slave.

As you begin Beauty (Re) discovers the Male Body your read of author Susan Bordo spilling her morning coffee over a shockingly sexual advisement of a nude man. Initially, I rolled my eyes and settled in assuming, I was going to read about the tragedy of how men are now being objectified and exposed in adverting like women. As I flip through the pages looking at the scantily clad images I’m not really shocked; this essay was written fifteen years ago; I see these kinds of images going to the mall. What was shocking, however, was how Bordo a published, woman philosopher born in 1947 wrote about these images. I felt myself blush as I read “it seems slightly erect, or perhaps that’s his nonerect size, either way, there’s a substantial presence

Freedom is what defines an individual, it bestows upon someone the power to act, speak, or think without externally imposed restraints. Therefore, enslavement may be defined as anything that impedes one’s ability to express their freedoms. However, complete uncompromised freedom is virtually impossible to achieve within a society due to the contrasting views of people. Within Mark Twain’s 1885 novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, numerous controversies are prevalent throughout the novel, primarily over the issue of racism and the general topic of enslavement. The characters in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn along with their development take an unmistakable, resilient stand against racism and by doing such in direct relation