ipl-logo

Elmina Castle Ethical Issues

823 Words4 Pages

The Elmina castle was a monument of great grief and pain because of the horrible events that were held there. Thousands of slaves that had gone through this is a reminder of the horrific past in the Elmina Castle. The Elmina castle was the first slave post in Ghana and was the first European fortress built in the tropics in 1482. This ancient place reflects a terrible time in human history. The ethical dimensions of Elmina Castle contain a wide range of considerations, including the profound violation of human rights, the abuse of human beings, and the enduring legacy of racism. Looking at these ethical dimensions allows us to see the significance of this site and its advice for present society. Some historical background about the Elmina …show more content…

Africans were forcibly taken out of their homes, torn apart from their families, and subjected to brutal conditions within the castle's walls. The physical and psychological abuse inflicted on the enslaved individuals at Elmina Castle dehumanized them, reducing them to mere property and stripping away their choice and dignity. The castle serves as a visible reminder of the immense suffering endured by generations of Africans, which highlights the moral imperative to acknowledge and confront this historical injustice. Elmina Castle violated fundamental human rights by forcefully taking Africans from their homes, separating families, and subjecting them to brutal conditions. The enslaved individuals endured physical and psychological abuse, reducing them to property and stripping away their dignity. Acknowledging and confronting this historical injustice is crucial due to the immense suffering endured by generations of Africans, as exemplified by the presence of Elmina Castle. This information was based on the information provided by UBC which allowed further understanding and my perspective on the Elmina …show more content…

Slaves were bought and sold as mere objects, their worth measured in economic terms. This abuse devalues the inherent humanity of individuals and perpetuates a morally bankrupt system that prioritizes economic gain over human well-being. The presence of Elmina Castle compels us to reflect on the profound ethical implications of treating human beings as chattel, challenging us to examine the roots of systemic oppression and the enduring consequences of slavery. The Elmina Castle shows how people were treated as things to make money from, which is really wrong. They bought and sold slaves like objects, without caring about their feelings or rights. It makes us think about how bad it is to treat people as property and reminds us to think about why slavery happened and what impact it still has today. The information that was stated here is info shown from castles.nl which covered the point about the abuse of human beings in the Elmina

Show More
Related
915 Words | 4 Pages

Equiano found employment with the Sierra Leone resettlement project, which was constructed to provide a safe place for freed slaves to work and live (Smith, 2013). This is where he formed the “Sons of Africa.” This group aimed to campaign for abolition through public speaking, letter writing, and lobbying parliament (Smith, 2013). Olaudah Equiano also led a delegation to the House of Commons to support William Dolben’s bill to improve conditions of slave ships (Smith, 2013). The story of his life was considered to be a powerful argument against slavery (Smith, 2013).

Read More
1167 Words | 5 Pages

She conveys ideas of internalised oppression, involuntarily imposed upon to follow strict social rules, the act of people erasing cultural heritage, as well as the importance of embracing personal heritage. Throughout her essay,

Read More
443 Words | 2 Pages

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass delves insightfully within the life of a slave, revealing the natures of power and how it affects those who are incapable of handling it properly. In this record, Douglass demonstrates that the system of slavery not only pulverizes the slave, but also the slaveholders. The power that the slaveholders possess, one which is devoid of responsibility, has a dehumanizing impact on them; annihilating their ethics and sense of self-conviction. It breaks the frailest hearts and finest emotions transforming them into those of a devil.

Read More
1213 Words | 5 Pages

Many people living in democratic societies often believe thralldom is of the past, but others, domestically and around the world, find themselves victims of slavery or serfdom. Today, many people find themselves enslaved for a variety of reasons, including to push a political agenda or to make a profit. Both, Mary Rowlandson and Olaudah Equiano have written enlightening narratives regarding their experiences in captivity. Mary Rowlandson and Olaudah Equiano’s captivity narratives can be compared and contrasted through their experiences of both kind and unkind treatment by captors, conditions under captivity, as well as their faith. Rowlandson and Equiano’s treatment by their captors differed greatly, for Mary was treated better as her time

Read More
876 Words | 4 Pages

Millions of African men, women, and children were plucked from their homes and shipped over to the colonies in exchange for goods. As a result of the absence of humanitarian concerns, slaves during the period of Atlantic

Read More
485 Words | 2 Pages

This chapter addresses the central argument that African history and the lives of Africans are often dismissed. For example, the author underlines that approximately 50,000 African captives were taken to the Dutch Caribbean while 1,600,000 were sent to the French Caribbean. In addition, Painter provides excerpts from the memoirs of ex-slaves, Equiano and Ayuba in which they recount their personal experience as slaves. This is important because the author carefully presents the topic of slaves as not just numbers, but as individual people. In contrast, in my high school’s world history class, I can profoundly recall reading an excerpt from a European man in the early colonialism period which described his experience when he first encountered the African people.

Read More
1146 Words | 5 Pages

Being that there are basic facts of the slaves that were being withheld from them, they lose the sense of identity from a young age, and now are conditioned to only know what the masters tell them, believing all else is irrelevant. Another way the slaves are mistreated in society is how, “before the child has reached its twelfth month, [the] mother is taken from it”, so family can not grow emotional attachments to one another (48). Learning as a little kid, the slaves are taught to grow up with no sense of relationship to a family member forcing the only loyalty or emotional connections towards the masters, making it easier for them to control. In addition, many of the slave children who were too young to work in the fields did not have “ shoes, stockings, jackets, or trousers” making the only clothes allotted to them for the whole year being “two coarse linen shirts” (54). Having the children be cold and vulnerable throughout the winter months, made the small children realize the low status that is implemented, teaching the children to rely only on the masters.

Read More
755 Words | 4 Pages

This excerpt is extremely important because it makes us better understand the status of African people, subdued by the European nations, and how the concept of slavery was perceived and addressed by

Read More
593 Words | 3 Pages

There was no concern for the Africans' well being when it came to their treatment. The Europeans physically and mentally abused them. In document one it says “Their masters are making them work too hard and giving them too little to eat”. They were starved, making them too weak to work.

Read More
739 Words | 3 Pages

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass reveals several inhumane practices of slavery. He gives great description of the many horrors and evils of this practice along with the damaging effects slavery had on both slaves and slaveholders. During this period, ignorance was the most beneficial tool used to keep slaves ignorant and out of touch with reality. Along with robbing slaves of their identity and keeping them in the dark about basic facts about themselves, slaveholders also used false religion to justify treatment of the slaves. Lastly, Douglass describes the injustice and inhumane suffering and beatings amongst the slaves by white men without them ever having consequences.

Read More
1319 Words | 6 Pages

Slaves were treated with the lowest of respect, and had no form of justice or rights. The slave system during the time that Frederic Douglass was a slave was corrupted, and he made that very clear within his narrative. In Douglass’ narrative we are shown how little rights the slaves

Read More
756 Words | 4 Pages

The story of Frederick Douglass’ is one of the most gruesome stories ever written in American literary history. The narrative goes in-depth about how the process of slavery was. It talks about how people would get whipped for the smallest of issues, dying if they resist enough, and even the process of the slave trade. It even shows how people become very different after the entire system of slavery gets into their minds. Through his powerful narrative, Frederick Douglass demonstrates how slavery dehumanizes not only the enslaved but also the enslaver, as it strips individuals of their basic humanity and perpetuates a system of cruelty and oppression.

Read More
753 Words | 4 Pages

Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a first hand experience into the imbalance of power between a slave and a slaveholder and the negative effects it has on them both. Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave, but the slaveholder as well by saying that this “poison of irresponsible power” has a dehumanizing effect on the slaveholder’s morals and beliefs (Douglass 40). This intense amount of power breaks the  kindest heart and changes the slaveholder into a heartless demon (Douglass 40). Yet these are not the only ways that Douglass proves what ill effect slavery has on the slaveholder. Douglass also uses deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion to present the negative effects of slavery.

Read More
1795 Words | 8 Pages

The slaveholders left no possibility of showing mercy upon the people in bondage. Overseers at the plantations were equally diabolical as their employers, if not more and Mr.Severe is one example who would publicly torture the slaves: “I have seen him whip a woman, causing the blood to run half an hour at the time; and this, too, in the midst of her crying children, pleading for their mother’s release” (Douglass 14). This is public torture and this impacted the woman, the children, and Douglass. Physical pain is already burdening but humiliates the receiver of the lashes and instills fear in the people watching. The children here could be connected to Douglass’s witnessing Aunt Hestor’s whipping and that also shapes their mental health.

Read More
1509 Words | 7 Pages

Hillary Rodham Clinton once said “Being pro-choice is trusting the individual to make the right decision for herself and her family, and not entrusting that decision to anyone wearing the authority of government in any regard.”. Abortion was legalized in the United States in 1973. This means that all women have the opportunity to receive an abortion if they decide to have one. Abortion has been the center of many conversations among our nation's leaders and many of these leaders believe that women should not be able to receive abortions. Abortions should remain legal for any woman who decides that it is their best option.

Read More

More about Elmina Castle Ethical Issues

Related Topics

Open Document