Abina and the Important Men uncovers the story of a young girl’s journey through years of enslavement at the hands of various men and her plea for justice. West African women in the nineteenth century faced a multitude of challenges including slavery, forced marriage, assault, and silencing. Unfortunately, their stories were rarely recorded, and if they were, they were seldom shared or believed. Patriarchal societies, such as the one Abina encountered, perpetuate the systemic oppression of women not only by white men, but by men of color and women themselves. Captured and sold into slavery as a young girl, Abina was forced to perform domestic labor and her masters often beat her. After Yaw Awoah “married” (purchased) her, she was still required …show more content…
Even though Africans had been enslaved by Europeans for centuries, elite African men also allowed domestic slavery because it meant they would gain more power as well. Moreover, some African women participated in the oppression of other enslaved African women. They knew they had less power than the elite men around them, so many were almost forced to participate in order to keep themselves safe. For example, Abina lived in Eddoo’s sister, Eccoah’s house. Although Eccoah was also an African woman, she did not treat Abina fairly, often letting Abina only eat a few scraps of food despite the fact that Abina cooked for all of them. Despite this, it is hard to fully blame Eccoah because she was following her brother’s orders so she could secure her own safety. In a patriarchal society, many women feel that they must oppress other women to avoid being oppressed themselves. The power imbalance between men and women forces women to compete with each other for power instead of recognizing the common factor between them (their sex) and helping each other. When women internalize the idea that they are inferior to men, they may project that misogyny onto other women as I believe Eccoah did to Abina. Eccoah’s belief that she is somehow worse than an African man like her brother likely explains her hatred towards …show more content…
The patriarchal society of West Africa during the late nineteenth century led to an alliance between British and African men who sought to oppress women in order to gain more power for themselves, believing that men were ultimately superior leaders than women. Even when some women like Abina found the courage to defend themselves, their voices were rarely believed. In Abina’s case, a jury of elite men were assigned to help decide her master’s fate rather than assigning a diverse group that contained women, too. Not including any women in the jury points to the bias of elite men only trusting other elite men. Davis even stated that to be on the jury, “above all, you must be a man.” Therefore, Abina’s opinion and voice as a woman never really mattered despite Melton’s moral opposition to slavery. Even today we see similar stories of powerful, rich, and usually white men infringing on women’s autonomy, whether this relates to anti-abortion laws or laws allowing child marriage. Despite what seems like advances in gender equality, women are still vastly underrepresented in the United States government even though they vote at higher rates than men. Women of color, transgender women, and women with any other intersecting identity suffer even more from underrepresentation and discrimination. Abina’s story stresses the critical importance of uplifting all women’s
Ladies were picked as a light into African culture since they were the most effortless target. They were solid in both work, and labor. At the point when an African lady had an infant, she would pause for a moment to conceive an offspring, and afterward return to fill in at the earliest opportunity. "The women are very fruiteful, and refuse no laboure al the whyle they are with childe. " (Vespucci, p.171).
Brian Niswonger Dr. Nicole Pacino HY104 - H09 06 March, 2023 Prompt 1 The story of Abina and the Important Men is one of freedom, retaliation, and, ultimately, injustice. Throughout the story, we follow Abina Mansah as she fights for an escape from the system of slavery that she was raised in from a young age. Attempting to solidify her personal autonomy, she brings her frustration to court, which followed the British judicial process. Because of the abolitionist movement that was widespread across Europe, the civilizing of Africa and its relationship to slavery grew to be a touchy subject within the legal system of the Gold Coast.
There’s no doubt in history that the slave life was the worst fate one could be born into. Even the Southern women, though deeply racist, hated slavery and the paternalism that went with it. Linda Brent in Harriet Jacobs’ account of her life in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl retells the stories of how Linda/Harriet grew up, bounced from mistress to master, learned hard life lessons, and eventually found “freedom.” Meanwhile, Barbara Welter’s article The Cult of True Womanhood shows the values that a Northern free woman held dearly when left to be a “slave” of virtue. An analysis of Welter’s article as well as Harriet Jacobs’ biography of her pseudonym shows how Linda Brent desperately wanted to fulfil the expectations of a white woman,
These two quotes by Abina hold a large amount of significance in understanding how difficult it was to speak up as not only a slave but as a women at this time period. Having a voice against figures of power is still one of the biggest issues today, and Abina’s story highlights how silencing of women and people with little power has been going on for
One of the resolutions given by Angelina Grimké expressed the new public freedom that women were given, stating, “RESOLVED, That as certain rights and duties are common to all moral beings, the time has come for women to move in that sphere which Providence had assigned her…it is the duty of woman…to plead the cause of the oppressed,” (140). Angelina Grimké, one of the most prominent abolition workers, argues that due to their religious beliefs that all people were created equal under the eyes of God, that it was her moral obligation to help those who were not free. This idea was countered by several laws within slave states that stated that slaves could not be freed based on religious beliefs and led to the need for white activists to protest on their behalf. The sphere that Angelina refers to is the public sphere where women had previously been denied entry. Before these movements, women belonged within the home, caring for their own families and abiding by their husbands’ standards.
The taxing nature of “southern womanhood” is demonstrated in every aspect of the 19th century. During the era of slavery women were conditioned to withstanding the emotional toll of violence towards slaves. An illustration from (DuBois 215) Through Women’s Eyes provides and illustration of a women beating a slave and consequently a women being beaten by a man for doing so. This is the pinnacle of hypocrisy, being that despite the ideals of “southern womanhood” a women is taught that violence is only ok against slaves, although when put into application it is prohibited. In the 19th the south had been going through a lot of change and the hardships and as a result the most effected were southern woman and female slaves, as they received the
Dating back to 1619, slavery plays a significant role in American history. Brutal oppression and violations have persisted among millions of enslaved African Americans for centuries, as expressed in many autobiographical slave narratives. Compared to male slaves, who were more likely to endure physical violence, slave women were more likely to undergo sexual violations from their male slave owners. In Harriet Jacobs’ narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, she described her experience as an enslaved black woman and provided insights into the difference in womanhood between black and white women. Although both races share a unified female identity, they were differentiated by the hierarchy of race, which entitled white women to have
Throughout history, humans have had their rights taken away from them due to their race, religion, and gender. The “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. King best conveys the central idea that human beings who live in a violently oppressive society suffer Injustice. However, some may say that “Women” by Alice Walker has best conveyed the suffering of human injustice. Women have suffered injustice throughout history; although some of this is true, the Negro community have suffered the most injustice. The Negro community has suffered injustice by the white community due to the color of their skin.
The main passages show the struggle Abina faces in the courtroom, which is filled with “Important men” as the title conveys. The first obstacle is that she is a African Women who sense the beginning Is seen as inferior to men. The court is comprised of Judge, lawyers, and jury who are all men. The judge a high ranking and wealthy British man, whose interpretation women especially black women plays a major role in how the court makes its decision. Two African Attorneys and jury who are solely wealthy high-class town leaders, which share a similar notion to women as the judge did regarding African women.
“From Antislavery to Womens Right”, is a document written by Angelina Grimke in 1838 devoted to the idea that a women's rights should not be depicted by a man. In the 1830’s female abolitionist noticed how women faced “legal economic disabilities to those facing enslaved African Americans. Grimke learning and fighting for the anti-slavery idea led her to understand the rights she had as a woman. She explains how the acceptance of slavery has dementalized womans no role in society. Angelina Grimke has a general broad audience but specifically tries to spark conversation and awareness, informing how women are so much more than a “pretty toy” that is whiled away in a man leisure moment.
Two important references can provide evidence of this claim. The first reference offers the reader some insight into the mentality of the slaver owners in the Asante region, through stating that female slaves “deemed less likely to run away or seek their liberation in British courts, [and that] children—especially girls—[were] seen as desirable slaves” (6). This is significant because Abina by herself represents the type of slaves that were preferred by men like Quamina Eddoo as Abina was also a young, vulnerable girl. Coupled with the fact that Quamina owned four more girls who matched Abina’s profile (90), Abina’s story can accurately help the reader depict the lives surrounding young female slaves in the Asante region. A final reference in explaining how Abina’s story represents the lives of female slaves living in the Gold coast is through examining the conversation the between James Hutton Brew and Quamina Eddoo.
In nearly all historical societies, sexism was prevalent. Power struggles between genders mostly ended in men being the dominant force in society, leaving women on a lower rung of the social ladder. However, this does not always mean that women have a harder existence in society. Scott Russell Sanders faces a moral dilemma in “The Men We Carry in Our Minds.” In the beginning, Sanders feels that women have a harder time in society today than men do.
Although some of the masters mistress were well taken cared of, there were times were the African American women was forced into having sexual relations with the master or his children and were still forced to work outside with the others. The role of an African American women compared to the role of a white women were very different. In antebellum because of their sex most women were assumed to be weaker, and believed to be intellectually and physically suited for only domestic work.
In September of 1979, Audre Lorde, poet, spoke about the impossibility of dismantling the patriarchy through oppressive means. The black feminist woman, Lorde, who has cancer at the point of this speech, uses ethos, pathos, and logos in order to guilt the audience into making a change of how black feminists are represented. Ethos is the building of the author's credibility in order to become more persuasive because people tend to believe people who they deem likable or respectable. “I agreed to take part in a New York University Institute for the Humanities conference a year ago, with the understanding that I would be commenting upon papers dealing with the role of difference within the lives of American women: difference of race, sexuality, class, and age. The absence of these considerations weakens any feminist discussion of the personal and the political.”
I find that this example highlights the fact that while women had far less political power in society during the nineteenth century, the least the law could do was to protect the sexual integrity of women; However, African American women suffered from racial, gender and class discrimination that makes it difficult for them to prosecute those that sexually assault them. Furthermore, anger of white men were usually taken out on the wives of freed African American men and usually in the form of sexual assaults and this made the situation for African American women