Abina and the Important Men PDF

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Tong 1 Tanya Tong Professor Rabii-Rakin Hist 101 12 July 2018 Abina’s Testimony 1. Magistrate Melton interviewed Abina with a series of questions that matched the British perspective of what he understood to be the qualifications to consider someone a “slave”. Abina was asked to recall what transpired between the two men, Yowahwah and Quamina Eddoo, particularly pertaining to what arrangements were made for Abina: regarding her stay, labor performed, treatment of herself and others within the same household in addition to her inability to operate under her own will. From what historians have gathered about Melton, based on the records of his court decisions and other official court profiles serving on the Gold Coast during the time period, Melton was presumably an evangelical Christian educated in works pertaining to free will and thought of himself as withholding a responsibility towards African subjects under British rule (Getz 130). The questions asked by him pertained only to his understanding of the world coming from a place of familiarity without full knowledge of the customs and laws of Abina and her people. It was these shallow understandings which ultimately led to the denial of Abina’s claim of her enslavement by Quamina Eddoo. 3. It is valuable to learn about the minor individuals in history since most of what is known in secondary sources refers back to prominent figures that were able to record their personal accounts. The poor, the powerless, and most women were generally illiterate and therefore unable to recall their own accounts (Getz 140). Additionally, even if they are

Tong 2 able to produce a written record, only a few documents were preserved long enough to be found in archives while others were omitted by historians or the elite in the retelling of historical events (Getz 78). These minor individuals give us further insight into their unfamiliar background and allows historians to have a more complete representation of the time period from all aspects of life whether it may be from the educated and elite or the illiterate and impoverished. 5. Abina decided to take her former master to court because she felt that her free status had been revoked under Eddoo’s care. She noted that she was already married to Yaw but Eddoo forcibly insisted that she would be married to Tandoe without her approval allowing her to draw the conclusion that she must have been sold as a slave. Married women enjoy greater liberties than enslaved women such as ensured spiritual and physical protection in addition to respect from the community (Getz 170). Within the graphic history, Abina states that she wanted her plea to be heard since she was a respectable married woman who had been sold as a slave without any form of knowledge of consent (Getz 77). Additionally, Abina stated that she “had no will” of her own and was unable to look after her body and health which may be referring to the spiritual and mental protection that she received while married to Yaw (Getz 92). 7. The graphic history of Abina is a product of a “staircases of voices” in which a new step is added with every person that collaborated in the work via translation, animation and additional input. However, there are multiple aspects in which a story can be represented and each of the “important men” have their own view in the case which had not been explored yet. The historians, educational scholars, and even the illustrator had a role in the graphic novel since the transcript only provided a few contextual clues as to who

Tong 3 Abina was. The rest of the graphic novel is comprised of additional research and debate as to the accuracy of the transcript translation into graphic form. Historians provided the information found within archives and conducted interviews with local natives to further understand Abina’s culture. Educational professionals added to the novel by raising questions about whether Abina was truly a slave, the accuracy of the illustrations in addition to providing more information about Abina herself. The illustrator had to reference photographs and other artwork from the time period to decipher how to draw the background and the characters that represents the time period in which Abina appeared in court. All of these factors came together to form this “staircase of voices” which gives its attempt to illustrate the story of Abina and these important men who controlled her life. 9. The authors try to portray an accurate representation of the time and place that it is set in by conducting research either by going through the archives or into the field. The archives is a site that contains a collection of documents, photographs, and other official records that are kept and organized for later use. Going out into the field signifies producing information by conducting oral interviews and collecting non-archived information. The illustrator and author also had the burden of graphically representing how the characters and setting would look like. Through consulting photographs, paintings and illustrations, they were able to construct a reasonable assumption of Abina’s surroundings. 11. Melton’s educational background has taught him that the concept of slavery is dependent on the individual’s free will. The questions that Abina is asked relate to whether she witnessed a transaction take place, if she was treated as a slave and if she was forced into

Tong 4 working. The British conception of slavery based on the questions asked only refer to if the person was bought through a transaction and if the person had any free will to do as they pleased. Since Abina stated that she did not witness a transaction, the defendant denied calling her a slave and insisted that Abina did the household under her own will. This type of ethnocentric approach to the law is another reason why Abina had such great difficulty attempting to gain back her freedom when her case fell into the hands of a British judge. 13. Quamina Eddoo’s action of giving Abina’s hand in marriage to Tandoe without her consent allowed her to conclude that her status had been demoted to a slave, since consent implies marriage. Abina’s understanding of her position is due to the cutting of her beads by Yaw which “released him” from being her husband and the cloth that was given to her by Eddoo signified the transfer of ownership from Yaw to Eddoo. Abina refused the marriage since she was already married to Yaw but was threatened by Attah and Senegay (Getz 96). Abina’s classification for a slave relates to her ability to care for her own health, marry who she pleases and, most importantly, have the ability to be in control of her own life, all of which she lost after being released from Yaw into Eddoo’s custody. 15. I believe that the historians are correct in their assumption that Davis had a longer relationship with Abina because as an important person working under the British, Davis would be unlikely to risk his position to help someone that he just met. Davis may be hiding his relationship with Abina to avoid appearing biased in the prosecution. This was not an uncommon occurrence in the courts however, there are other documented cases of

Tong 5 clerks pretending not to have a relationship with a certain woman only to find out later on that their was a preexisting relationship between the two (Getz 144-146). 17. The support for British civilization by West Africans can be a result of the increased economic success in palm oil and the slave trade which benefited multiple West African societies. Even though slavery was outlawed in British territories, officials were unable to enforce that mandate due to the fear of damaging the economy by angering the primary sources of wealth, which were the large plantation owners. Brew also states that the British were not too different from African culture since fathers were considered the head of the family unit and that the British were uneducated in their knowledge of local customs (Getz 32). With the British officials’ limited understanding, elite African men could undermine the legislation that forbid slave trading and exploit the British system. 19. The author and illustrator understood Abina’s testimony against the grain by utilizing their personal knowledge in the topics discussed to generate assumptions. By leaving the transcript open to interpretation and research, the author and illustrator were able to “reconstruct” the setting and significance behind Abina’s words. The graphic history could also be a representation of their own portrayal of what they believed were important values such as the gender disparity and the multicultural diversity. Research shows that the assumptions placed on Abina were shared among a group and considered to be a shared trait (Getz 147). By reading against the grain, historians are able to extract information that provides explanations to what Abina felt was self-explanatory in the local customs and look at the situation from an objective standpoint. 21. Although there have been numerous records of enslaved people’s testimonies, Abina’s case should be considered as both a representative and unique. Her case is representative

Tong 6 since she was a woman of color who experienced slavery numerous times and was able to depict the treatment of her enslavement. Abina’s case is also unique because of the completeness and insight that is shown for the local tradition regarding marriage and slavery. 25. The significance of beads and cloth in Abina’s case indicate a transmission of “ownership” and authority from one individual to another. Yaw gave Abina beads as a gesture of their marriage consummation and the custom of giving of cloth symbolizes the superior relationship that one has over another. By breaking her beads and giving her new cloth, Eddoo was symbolically gesturing that Abina belonged to him and she had a new start starting with her new cloth. That gesture was only solidified when Eddoo offered Abina to Tandoe in marriage against her wishes. 27. Abina’s ethic origin is important to historians analyzing the case transcript since it may provide contextual background to what Abina’s beliefs and customs were. The difference in Ewe and Akan culture can determine the understanding of the case’s significance in addition to what Abina’s intentions were in producing her testimony.

Tong 7 Work Cited

Getz, Trevor R., and Liz Clarke. Abina and the Important Men: a Graphic History. 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 2016....