Is the history that we read valid or are we only learning what they want us to learn? Do the powerless not have a word when the past is documented? Have we been lied to all of our lives? Philosopher and historian Michel-Rolph Trouillot may just make you believe this way. “Trouillot says that history is an act of silencing in which those without power are silenced and those with power are able to speak.” (Abina, 78) He believes that some viewpoints of the past were never recorded as actual documents and the minorities like the illiterates, powerless, and poor were never heard. Trouillot wondered why it is fair that some people get to choose what information is important enough to write about and what gets left in the past. I personally do agree with the statement made by Trouillot. In comparison, I have always wondered this exact question on pieces of the past that were written before there was even a printing press invented. For example, the bible was always questioned in my opinion because whoever was copying it could include their …show more content…
Abina and the Important Men is just a representation of Abina’s story. According to Michel-Rolph, “The exploration of the issues of representation and translation continue our theme of relationship between power and knowledge in the writing of history…” (Abina 140) She was never given the chance to actually use her own accent. Others may argue the fact by saying that her story was valued because of court documentation, but that is the clerk’s value of the story. (Abina 137) Abina’s story cannot be heard first hand because she was illiterate. Likewise, any other information coming from her could have been lost in language translation. Although historians that write these stories may be highly educated, we cannot necessarily accept their veracity of their facts because it is not first hand information and can be altered -especially over
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
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.
Is History True? Handlin argues yes, while McNeill argues no. I am not one to decide for someone else if they think it is or not. However, I do believe most history is. Although, a great deal of our history went unrecorded, the amount we have can suffice to show that what’s happened in the past can happen again in a contemporary situation.
In the context of this story, the important men are those who had influence in Abina’s life and can also be defined as wealthy, and/or landowning, men who were fluent in English (57). This is evident by looking at the various encounters throughout Abina’s story, for instance James Davis is considered an important man since he was the one who helped Abina formally charge Quamina Eddoo and indirectly etched Abina into history through the paper to the magistrate (13). Quamina is also an important man as his mistreatment and coercion of Abina ultimately thrusts our protagonist on her journey to freedom (83). While Quamina Eddoo is a land owner, he is more notably an important man because of his relationship with the commerce of slaves in the
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
James Baldwin once said: “History is not the past. History is the present. We carry our history with us. To think otherwise is criminal”. This quote stated by James Baldwin perfectly summarizes the many problems that people are acquainted within society. Throughout history, people are bunched up into groups where they are labeled certain things which carries on into today’s world. People are not viewed as individuals with the certain choice making abilities but rather subjected to being grouped by irrelevant factors into certain groups. By doing this, other people are able to take advantage of these people that are classified into groups by exploiting them for their own benefit. This is the unfortunate system which history has allowed to
In Telling the Truth About History, three historians discuss how the expanded skepticism and the position that relativism has reduced our capacity to really know and to expound on the past. The book talks about the written work of history and how individuals are battling with the issues of what is “truth.” It likewise examines the post-modernist development and how future historians
Is history always the way it has been told, or are there multiple truths that meet in one point and intersect? Presentism is what modern historians do to the past. The way in which presentism reveals and formats information about history is simplified and modified. This, for the most part, is not the exact way these events took place. Important parts and concepts are changed in order to fit into modern views and interpretation. Many historians are accepting of either the victim's or perpetrator's side. Sometimes picking one particular side may skew the hard facts of the situation or event. Failure of telling the accurate past can lead
The characters are called the important men because they control the labor power of individual in the workplace. During that time many women and men in Africa were slaves. Many of these individuals “important men” who have control and power towards slaves were born from freeborn women. The enslavement of Abina was a different enslavement because even thought she couldn’t have her own freedom, the work that she was performing was the same work that free women were performing. Abina took the case to court to make to got herself heard and to advocated for the rights of the women’s and men who were unlawfully enslaved by these “important men”. Abina lost the case to Quamina Eddoo because of the lack of witness when the purchase of Abina was being done. Another factor was that in certain way, Abina was being paid for her service because she was shelter, food, and clothing was provided to her by Quamina Eddoo. In the section of “The transcript” Abina told the court all of these equipment and services that were being given to her and that in most cases are not offered by slave’s owners. Abina was never beaten or physical assault by Quamina or his men, this gave another prove that even thought she was in slavery her owner didn’t commit physical abuse toward
Abina and the Important Men is the tale of an west African woman from Ashantee who was abducted twice and sold multiple times as a slave. The book is about her trial at court and her prosecution against Quamina Eddoo. Quamina Eddoo is a wealthy man that farms palm oil that owns young slaves. Slavery in the Gold Coast at the time was illegal due to British colonization and their abolition of slavery. Enforcing British rule against slavery was difficult in the Gold Coast. British rule clearly dictates that slavery is illegal, however, slavery was what kept the Gold Coast economy going and was apart of their tradition. At the time, palm oil was one of the staples of their economy, in which the British profited from significantly, and child slaves did the field work. If the British enforce their slavery laws against all the rich landowners who produce this oil, it would destroy the economy and relations with the powerful locals. Abina’s case was one of horrible circumstance, but provides a unique approach of historical significance.
The great Machiavelli once said, "Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times." Indeed, the study of history is important as history does seem to repeat itself. Many people in today's society learn about the past from textbooks and other books, as these are of easy access. Is this really the best way to learn about the past? The people of ancient Africa did not think so, as they had special people called "griots"who passed the people's traditions and history down orally from generation to generation. One such griot, Mamadou Kouyate, recalls the story of the most famous ruler in African history, Sundiata, in D.T. Niane's book Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali. This
It was a common saying of the past that the history of a conflict was told by the victors. That was true then, the losers of the conflict had to rebuild after their defeat and the winners could share their side of the story, twisting it so it would seem that they did no harm and the losers deserved defeat because they were the villains. This is not true today. With the wealth of information at one’s finger tips and the available research opportunities the stories can be untangled and both sides of the story can be told. However, some have held strong to the truths that their side proclaimed and refuse to admit that their victory was tarnished by lies, deceits, and omissions. This very idea is what shaped how
How does the way history is told have power in our understanding of the past and present?
What is History? This is the question posed by historian E.H. Carr in his study of historiography. Carr debates the ongoing argument which historians have challenged for years, on the possibility that history could be neutral. In his book he discusses the link between historical facts and the historians themselves. Carr argues that history cannot be objective or unbiased, as for it to become history, knowledge of the past has been processed by the historian through interpretation and evaluation. He argues that it is the necessary interpretations which mean personal biases whether intentional or not, define what we see as history. A main point of the chapter is that historians select the facts they think are significant which ultimately