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Passage To America Quotes

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Amari is a 15-year-old African American from the peaceful village, Ziavi; “Amari loved the rusty brown dirt of Ziavi. The path, hard-packed from thousands of bare feet that had trod on it for decades, was flanked on both sides by fat, fruit-laden mango trees, the sweet smell of which always seemed to welcome her home.” (Chapter 1, p.2) Amari is a doubtful character that gains courage through her awful hardships. In the beginning of the book she is captured as a slave when her village was attacked and set ablaze. Her humanity was taken away by being captured. On the voyage through the middle passage to America slaves endured low sanitation, food or water; the women were also commonly raped by sailors. Slaves citizenship was also oppressed; they were only considered property or 3/5th of a person, according to the 3/5ths compromise which …show more content…

At first her attitude is sour towards her position. As the Novel progresses Amari learns to manage, Afi sees this strength in Amari when she is on the “ship of death,” the middle passage ship. The “ship of death,” is a main example of Amari’s loss of humanity. Captured African people were loaded onto the ship like animals. They were also raped and given very little food or water. When they reached America, Amari was actioned off for the best price. Selling people is a very inhumane action. Amari along with other African people lost their citizenship as well. In America Slaves are considered property and belong to their “masters.” If a slave were to escape from the plantation, in many cases if they were caught they should be returned to their owners. On occasions, slave owners would even offer a bounty for those slaves. The identity of many slaves was altered and lost as well. Most slaves were given a different name, in the story Amari changes her named back after she escapes from the derby family. Most, if not all of the African People did not speak

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