Abina Men Sparknotes

The trial of Abina Mansah is vividly portrayed in the graphic book Abina and The Important Men by Trevor R. Getz and Liz Clarke. They created a unique and captivating addition to the history of colonialism, slavery, and gender in Africa by fusing the historical method with the graphic novel's artistic style. The narrative occurs in 1876 on the Gold Coast of Africa (in modern-day Ghana). It gives an overview of Asante's inhabitants' everyday lives, business operations, and relationships to British jurisdiction. Ghanaians were appointed to places of authority under the government structure that Great Britain set up, with Britain retaining dominance over the nation. It recounts the biography of Abina Mansah, an enslaved woman who took her former

The first segment consists of the comic-style narration of Abina’s court case and her testimony. The graphic history follows Abina's journey from the time she escaped from slavery to when she settled on Cape Coast. A series of flashbacks fill in the specifics of her life as an enslaved child and into her adolescent year. Quamina Eddoo was accused of enslaving Abina Mansah in a lawsuit she filed against him. She fought for her freedom since enslavement is prohibited by the law. Slavery was no longer permitted in Britain and all of its territories by

It was evident that Abina's position in her master's household involved the intricate balancing act of regional notions about work, gender, kinship, and dependence. The phrases "dependent," "slave," "child," and "wife" are frequently used throughout the graphic novel's narration as well as in the court evidence to describe Abina. Abina engages in a type of domestic work that is difficult to describe or classify. She shared a home with the sister of her former master and worked as a housekeeper in return for food and shelter. The key issue in the court case, given that slavery, had been made unconstitutional throughout British territory, was how much of this labor was done voluntarily. Colonial officials understood the value of having positive relationships with influential local males, many of whom were slave owners. The men in the court intended to silence Abina by imposing their own definitions of slavery on her throughout the court case. The narrative of Abina relates to more general questions such as colonial rule on the Gold Coast, gender and kinship structure, and enslavement and labor