Africans in America; 101; The Terrible Transformation; Interview with Akosua Perbi, Professor of History, University of Ghana

this boy afrikaans remember his students will will and there is set up and shows that i've been involved in looking at gun in particular from nineteen ninety up into what all the ten regions of the country conducting interviews and cheese builders and state use to evince old men and women in the one hundred member something about enslavement and it's amazing the kind of information and martin what about many of them we got a statement as a very sensitive issue and what i've done is that in my research i've tried to identify with the people and i've used some of my students in the department of history and i've always sworn my students that's out west to this will come from the area and to undertake this recession or when someone who's spending money does in the area because we're getting so sensitive that it didn't know and they wouldn't disclose

soundbite of information too so i'm amazed still real and that people are very reluctant to talk about it because it brings up some kind of unpleasant memories sometimes and i think another reason is because there were two aspects to enslavement in ghana in west africa there was what how one untamed and asked that all what people want and indigenous aspect of enslavement and then there was the next ten aspect that his enslavement week between africa and the us that will either with him to do to really amp or red sea indian ocean world all with athletic world and because of this we still have some memories about both a statement especially dangerous one because when do you draw the line there some families trying to situate reluctant to talk because they remember that their great grandfathers grandmothers tugboats leaves from senator mccain made them

part of the household and therefore if you're going to mass trust set tracing geologists who comes from it comes from this has created problems so some of them or don't want to talk about that loss loss i feel that it wasn't very good but a few other people i talked to in the course of man to say it's quite remember that there was a loss of people most of the population those in the northern part of garner for example at the vessel pass in ghana right now which actually to because often sleep and he could recall reads and walls you know kidnapping and so andrew if it was telling me that in the second part of the northern

country is close some dinner every year when they have a festival and they bring out certain that affects connected with enslavement and gave him a ritualized it to the extent that nobody would tell you about a dental assistant school and then you find them bringing chains since one and actually worshiping them in them know what they went through during his statement and that was an eerie away those a lot of slave reading when mostly kidnapping doing the prudent and sleet and then on the corps' top half of the country there were a few cases of people lose and those were on a case which twenty sixteen three that could chop up a

past enslavement in ghana oh africa is one in which you find different means of acquiring this leads i can't identify about five major means of opposition the first was through offering and that was really a major means a position now i don't want to enter into that completely that there was a twenty foot because of statements on that with its limitless incidental to the walls because they're still the disagreement but what i have found in my only safe i talked to in chief's oh this is cool is that as he meant was incidental to though was your foot in then another with the laws were not explicitly foot because they want it two cuts loose but there were several reasons for free expression ahlquist's retaliation aggression and so if you look through the history of the world for asian times you find that was a practice that whenever you engage

in a war and became victorians you take on the prisoners of war and inevitably these business or for the game and sent a series also became a nation practices played on through the mourning period as if you look at the history and african history from another fifteenth century to the nineteen eighty nine to essentially refined wall three us one major means of enslavement and it's very striking especially when i would come to atlantic a statement and because although often it was the sauce off as livable both internal and external you find that external demand was so high that was affected a very major role in it if you read some of the travis accounts into this mammoth you find them mentioned something that they seventy and his friends and polluted it's a local pub the french didn't he said yes on the one of it was learning piano and found when he bases from east to

west but to deal with that it was oswald for the somewhat that what about two hundred to three hundred cities and you find them expressing these things in them it was as you read it seemed to be started there's no war you know so it created a very major means of providing sleeves to the faceless war for the second major means was what are called direct eighties and there were several markets scattered throughout the continent in different parts of the country people who grew to embrace leaves now i've realized the settlers faced about the slave markets that people do know that mike as we know saudi force leaves but there were other items also being treated the left as you enter the market to find peaceful food status is for household where exeter having fun about a section of the market also deported for treating human beings and i've been amazed in the course of my research to find the topics covered at least offer to fight excessive marketing firm

avenue and every region gonna have at least two or three slave markets and what is significant about this is that with respect to the indigenous enslavement and the ordinary person can go to any of the markets and buys table to focus millions and saw the markets with only missiles off a higher incidence of president dismisses them was constant it's also helping extend the system but what it was in the vessels were leaks in the system and the markets was that the missiles flew in a prison or to the market community mind and you want to buy one or two would have animals that you wanted to power so that was the market stalls and then that fed source was through what i'll call rates and kidnapping and five thats defense case in ghana and the conservatives would go to the neighbors who read or kidnap people and enslave them those one particular state in uganda called aquaman in which was noted for this in the

eighteenth century to audit she's organized bands just read and kidnap for the atlantic and slate and they were opposing different parts of the cost encana wasn't involved in reading and kidnapping and then the northern part of gun was also noted for a lot of slave breeding and kidnapping are independent office and so that was a thick socks default swaps are old tribute tp it was when he gets to eat defeated and others to eat and as a defeated thing to get treatment and in the past nominee would look at what this did produce thousands of years ago producing area who does this do to food fight maybe so many ounces of gold we asked to beat or they produced yams or any kind of foodstuffs and talent to produce a certain quantity and during the period of enslavement especially when the atlantic and slid was introduced the beach i get is that instead of asking wonderful forced us saw the king's agent also asked for human beings as part of the treatment and

especially as it was noted for the us ambassador was aboard the senate for about a thousand slaves every year would ask some people from duke was the past five to god to provide maybe another five hundred or three hundred slaves every so tribute was another means of instant and their last means i took off it means the last is what uncle my know sources often slate for example if somebody wouldn't that he couldn't be who could be enslaved or some of those convicted of a crime he could be a state or sometimes through deception people would be asleep through this section of the survivors small business is off a student is the kind of people who enslaved

was a broad spectrum because normally if it was warm although rachel kidnapping to move into a tunnel of each and called her and to all the people and when you read the documents of rent statements like they've got all the men women and boys and girls so we and sometimes you find that they've met the old imam and older women to convey young boys the girls and we soon find that is the people in the prime of your youth wage it ticking and sometimes it goes through a series of processes festival you rate the group only get what they do bring on mass to your home that is your capital thousands of prisoners of war from and then sometimes they'd go through salting and looking at what they indigenous requirement is so you look at what you have them and they remember boys and girls what your intent on these would be like and then you do say that will present glut of a hundred sleeves and about fifty

men fifty women all twenty five men twenty five boys fifty twenty five ghost of who does say that maybe i'll leave twenty twenty four investment and sent interest that we inevitably what happened was that a lot of the younger people were strong and quick with those who he really demand it they're doing a print of a statement because of the kind of quake people went to them to do so your needs to tend the kind of people who take so you find a prostitute of people young boys girls man i mean and it is generally believed that africa house wanted more women and dement dedicated her students who have more women used internally and mormon center we honestly made by kids it is yes it was a it's an odd man has created a kind of innocent

people they wanted and they want to both men and women but the proposals for many because most people want to them to make in their minds or to wake in the fields and to do what people call the hype but breaking wink and normally the villages was the men was stronger to do these things so it was more from a six to have men than women and interesting essay go through this rigorous itself on that for that because the prices of maine were usually higher than women i'm fully intended as lehman the price of oil and we have a man so she went to this slave markets for example you find it that men and women the puzzlement with always had let them in because of antenna demand and web based lives moved to the cost to be shipped was athletic demand would put a high a prize and they looked at americans may turn to put a higher price on them and then they would be and so that was the nature of their way to be a determined and imagine me you want little boys and girls who went

away oh there was a big difference in outlet to see that there were some similarities and differences between the two systems similarities in terms of opposition and how this leaves way a fact and with a single board and turn out an extensive and an admission five major sources wolf a mac a recent kidnapping she built and my muscles so this is where the similarities but the defense is found in treatment or sleeves intended every ethnic group had rules about how slaves should be treated in tennessee and go through oral history and sometimes prop bets gunmen with songs try to filter those things out and i've come up was about eight or nine

groups about how soon should be treated very very big war it's been a few years ago well because i'm as human comedy whole spectrum of people and there was somewhere finance and when you worked till their land there was some way to the scotsman i'm awake is that goldsmith would wake and gold in the west somewhat weave baskets and there are some great books and in the west bank to

a fisherman will and the coasts fishing they were somewhere and tests parents and day and there were somewhere traders who knew how to treat so you had this post that two of people maybe center we own the atlantic and slate and right now it'll last sew them into a bona fide that africa's development as lebanon partly because those wet bandage you can be strong and economically productive with those wasted on instant so industry treat agriculture going to look into a stencil began in africa well these skills with these trends that are sent to help themselves i will send that to the rest of the world

all at very very specific ways it will narrow is it is them there was certainly fix or death sentence statement on africa and especially in town why i'm ok gary fix was that over the population and set up task of the country because those increases will increase reading in his kidnapping that different parts of the country being depleted anticipated because of this and then because of the increase recent kidnappings there's also a lot of insecurity and shia and that could've

gotten to concede that because we didn't know what would happen when you go to bed in the event what happened if you're going on a way to treat other people with kidnapping both drank it and then let some audience does because of the atlantic might add the atlantic enslavement also affected family ties and social relationships because they had people would be asleep through deception and that was not a pleasant idea idea at all i read ended in these records of the case which mr farmer and we went to the danish fought battles so i went in to buy some groups and that i can't look at a law that was in the warehouse he indicated that the damaged wellhead so many beautiful words but he didn't have money to pay for these groups and then he decided somehow that you're going to achieve his wife in return for these groups so he made an agreement with the seventh in the customer told him that he was going to do this about an hour to later he came with a wife

and he went through the warehouse elected a glimpse and you know how women are so excited about buying things she bought all kinds of things not knowing that she was going to be exchanged for the kids so when they finished taking that was there was a scuffle between that the man and the sentence was i really scuffle and then the chain this woman and to kill me and there were several cases of this kind of decision to leave if my husband would do that to me then i wouldn't even trust marathon was a wooden what happened next and there were cases where doing quilts cases and where previously in the businesses lipman somewhat of disappear find foreign affairs committee because we're going to demand the verify that this will be sold into slavery so it affects aid justice you know that was just of justice and there was something this way king centuries could even as they get brothers and because it's a western that doesn't define

who sentenced libby does this case in atlanta where the king and slave was the brother of the wife and the children because that bright that committed an offense and previously would have been asked to define it and slipping through the atlantic means because of this so there was a lot of suspicion there to physically to monitor fee do independent of enslavement goes you do know what happened next so it wasn't a pleasant thing a chemical the tech industry agriculture and because most of it will be stronger to wake with taken out to win with other people the netherlands so we find that agriculture declines and then it also affects industry because there weren't many industries affected salt making stuff it takes him ideal way at a lot of industry race to a halt because of record to consider and this was not a

pleasant experience at all for africa to try to repair it there was a story was happening there and the seventeenth eighteenth century in a crab where those among former clinton went to the castle and the danish castle i wanted to buy some woods and you know through the wells until the denny's government we love so many beautiful words but i don't have money to pay for that and then something went through his mind he decided that he would achieve his wife for the group's so he agreed with a castle severance that to bring his wife and actually the way for the clues so in about an outer he came back with that way of thinking with their wealth and you know how women are so excited about shopping and buying this one picked all kinds of groups that us know they finish those separate army a scuffle between a man and a

sentence and that woman was tuned and exchanged for tickets so this kind of deception if your mom could do that to sway that it meant that it could have happened to conceive that you could trust anybody ah not trust a husband who's reading what would happen and so this was the period of real mistress suspicion potentially very painful landscapes bauer's big guns and gun powder played a very important role in atlanta can sleep and especially from sixteen fifty

on wits and this is where you find the impact because if you look at what was happening during veteran to treat fifteenth sixteenth century and you wouldn't fight so many people being sleeved the numbers with you and they've lost it was not still rampant owen system then in sixteen fifty dozen compound introduced into africa and then it found sunday increased wolfley state expansion strengthen retaliation and different to the more cloying had destroyed may hurt you weigh you able to pre owned a weaker people so we find at some stage this to be able to buy more guns and gun powder expanded with stronger prevent a recurrence and this teacher not so wealthy to buy the guns guns and begin the victims sue us tease for isn't like a son to move the homey grain stronger and stronger

predictor of i've got to concede it and in the same space and another part of ghana and especially this teacher again and that's what this facility is quote the surface would have centralized is that the data the grill she's the newbies assesses the incredible because it have the weapons so guns and gun powder was a very important phenomenon for the pivot into conflict the mall doesn't them putting out the stronger your base and you could launch any attack because you have more powerful cars at that point those and in some cities in the northern part of kenya we use it was anonymous so he had a gun to be it will cast and when she'd much more than that that's what was america's so that he wouldn't know when real victims during the spirit of atlantic and slate you bob he

says oh yeah kidnapping kidnapping of various forms of it could be doing that it would be the night and sometimes you'd be way how to treat for example and they'll be people like a compass so it didn't so it could be caught well you know a new way to treat or go on your way to the front and i find that somebody a statement which he catches you know wrestling with you and that night it was even less so and if i had some of their records indicate that people would want to stay in their house in the night were free to go out because if they do that it did was it in ways in the night time sous bois because of the atlanta defiant for slaves those a lot of kidnapping possibly win in africa especially in gun and kidnapping could we determined

the internet it could be a new way to treat or to fire and we could be kidnapped because some with the anchorage to kidnap and because of that their wait times and many people are free to go out in the night because it was waist during the night we would you know was he was there to kidnap you so that's the us to read some of these documents to fight a little feeling expressed in people's lives are the pivot into conflict and if i commit like nobody desk walk out when the nights in this part of the coast because of fewer than he'd kidnapped into slavery and you know he went on in almost every specific was in the northern part three years ago a dram six hours talking to somebody in one of the archives and in the huff post and then and i was talking about to him about my recession what i was doing and then i mentioned kidnappings when and then he said my grandmother was kidnapped into his living and i was surprised

that you tell that one he said my grandmother said he remembers very well she remembers very well that they weigh in a rice field in the northern part of the country and we'll wait on the rise phones when someone is made he had been kidnapped last summer to it was one of these and people would try to build a large african state in the northern part of gun and part of what is to deep enough muscle and by green that's also what involvement of parsley reading as they've kidnapped and he said he remembers she remembers well some ways meant kidnapping and i want them to do it isn't a fun and bringing them to god and it happened that somebody and took their grandmother into the house and mary j and so these people are not part of the family in the region sort of been bored and ten andy an extended know but it'll increase because of extend out of mind and find out if it is to go through the documents and if you look at from the sticks into the nineteenth century especially seventeen eighteen when that it is at its peak

and find a lot of kidnapping across the atlantic ocean this is their new house songs a dry land wheat book form this detail from families that is some families remember loved ones that lost and some of this to its also recount especially when it becomes used to a tough it may be woefully or kidnap your at and five the host of people being taken that we would find that some of the city's record least in the us so there's one song among the gun in accra where the nation and that in the seventeenth century they've lost everybody isn't all muscle

and in the nation and the different countries that you mentioned a pharmacy where you boys and girls minimum in the festival and we imagine another commonly say well your minimum of this that the mona lisa those songs als so they had to find some of the dry mountainous i'm mentioning this in fact some of them not only mission to muscle the windowsill show with the country presently mass at this one moment when he sees what tony say that nasa told me sing in pinson uses that he bought me from the no not now that you've bought me from that go for three thousand comments so it's also talks about how to have a quiet visit and how they were treated there were a lot of problems and say well how slaves were treated intended and you get this from problems again this from songs to get this from the manager and so the treatment system

for victory there the name similarity between the internal an extended enslavement was intent of houses were packed and the opposition was the seawall fame marquette rees kidnapping and so but in terms of treatment this is where the difference but let's say that in terms of treatment there's a big difference between being ten now an external and sleet in danger are now in a statement they're wearing traditional rules about how slaves should be treated and every ethnic group had the rules and have tried to sort out a few of the seneca nation if you have these things to the first cut his tone was that inner sleeve that entered into a

house and how to be be part of the family and so the slave was made part of the family in the african traditional sense of the way now it could be done is that rallies and reflection of the slave or through my roots of this league history was a female to be for humans there's a male to be fluent dutch and there were some people who and especially women who have children who would go to some of these to markets to buy children and adults and make them part of the funding so that was one making this leap out of the country and then the second was that every slave was entitled to food clothing and shelter so you had to treat your sleeve as you would your child or you would your brother or sister was staying with him the third was that every person went to sleep that would have to be approachable or accessible and aleppo it's connected with us and then sometimes they would say that you should also be able to trade and discipline your

sleeve that you would do a job and do a safe about this one of us which i love so much with that if you fear to reprimand you famously you each ditty food so in as much as you want to make this leap out of the house who provide all the necessities your foot tree and discipline the sleeve when this history and tradition also talk about punishing the sleeves if they're sleep deprived but an important point to note that the punishment was that in africa and especially again mostly women have the part of life and get over the city it was already baking witches what hoffler and if not only with a sleeve that of every citizen in this to get so many conditions the human sacrifice for example was an ad accusing teams perform sacrifice doesn't any ordinary person who did it was about the power of life and death and i said go through these recession hit us up on that any person who was treated his sleeve to the point of the physical this helps and was

punished as a result of that because the rules do not allow government funded leslie and then slick would marry he quit mary's or not awkward might get one as relations and there were rules about how the same one should be performed how to struggle place legally and so and then came this little swap that inheritance own property and this slick would also became more chief lender suitable place and when they'll try to him just to sew these were some of the things which made intensely been very different from extent obviously and there's to debate clinton when she stood as an anthropologist who study african indigenous system of slavery as to whether the wet sleeves even suitable for the african system and find people messages to now that it has to get to an african union look at the weight which is used in big business with asleep because it'll bring up on the idea of treatment i'm howie when the slit we review how you regard the

sleeve more better than talk about an english lit with his sleeves which means all kinds of ideas to ships i think those slaves who wastes into their castles to be shipped across the atlantic what how they think a da all footwear be happy hack was dc from what we know in a tennis is moving that they were to be treated the same way and they're going to be part of the family that would inherit property the queen mary and soul and i'm sure many of them got a shock then they went out and they did he began if you got up in the castles which is purely and european constrictions you find out that his way past some of this is good enough is controversial

because a red as i write in the castle significant restriction on what happens after the castle the african to announce the system and after a local school that many of those went out that's issa was atlanta will to come back to tell their story that's their action all the chief and people to a statement would have been different because hardly anybody came back to tell this story some mortgage backed candidate for the combination of those a lot of you and comedy about stopping this leak so those who came back to tell the story came at a time when a lot of hundred to be done but when the house was being down in the keys and she's knew that the treatment was different perhaps the attitude i was to be very different i read a portion of an interview between one of its entities that somebody went to listen to and at seventy and they're sensitive was called sapiens and he was asking why the atlantis leave it had been abolished that no one expected to be meeting with seven and this was at seventeen and he was beginning to feel the impact because i

sent was to engage in a lot of water so that was one way to go seven seventy one at seventy and those this british traveler to a site and he spoke to guess it meant that time older siblings and as it was was asking why the british had abolished atlantica slate its not personally to seven and this was at a seventeen and a centaur is beginning to feel the effects of the atlanta can slip into militia was a santos to linkedin apple watch and so there were still a lot of prisoners of war and this is where you see that relationship and effective weapon because they didn't question it would have been an easy access into the bs is on the quest for the sleaze to be sick now

santos tone with what to do with all of these prisoners of war and then the us envoy try to explain to the us and to me that we stop because he look at humanitarian reasons it was by because war faded this and that that and the city she was surprised that oh you do know this all along won wimbledon the street all these years but we didn't think it was about and then he brings out what our intent our system and understanding about enslavement so it meant that when the two people involved in that treat both of them had a different idea of what's happened so far the africana he knew they turn out and does the system and i thought it was the same system which was being followed closely so that was a fast and at seventeen and ten years ago the us it was even bigger way but the differences between the two systems is the only or are you

all right well if paul family's attic and visible from the north to the quotes one of the things which was striking is that there be separate anticipation would outlast seven that something has happened because most people would have families would want to keep them wasn't african says the more families who had that letter the family the better and in terms of labor intensive well in terms of tuesday's slew in cypriot families who'd keep them because the way an important aspect to that fourteen castle in the festivities there is separation yen oregon as one family anymore and desecrated

five am other children also protect and that will be the first and the second thing the us which will surprise some of them would be maybe they will get treated in terms of passion is so intense over even fruit through the senate too if families brought down from the north for example to the cost during the atlantic and slate one of the fed's controversial two have to be separate should in their antenna system them all people you have to protect what's so what is separate families who have been his slate because she needed them needed in force to show users will please teach and so now that the family gets to the castle and one of the officials that they're going to be separated then that would recognize this one fund they're going to recognize any other individual human being and perhaps another

second shock any family which gets to the quote and cousins will experience will be in terms of how they're treated because of their ten houses we've mentioned how this is as was depicted in terms of food clothing shelter and caring for them making them as part of your children and their relatives at whether this and there's that aspect to the treatment that's even before they'd given me not be enough gas and will not be properly clothed maybe they simply want their weight they want to be wearing a song will find it in a different world altogether tens of treatment cardiac cared for and what the court said nobody knew when his car and i'm sure that would have given them a sign that they're in for something very very different and of course efficient up with a c we've noticed this presentation long journey and what happened it's another fear the culture shock and what i'm saudis me about this whole thing is that other people cannot come back to tell the story they come up and it's very light and a coalition isn't that we did so the story that this is very very different

from what we know and i had some kind of culture shock myself personally in nineteen ninety three ninety four hours and the rest of texas in austin is why do some research for the american sources because i've done a lot on the gurney and sources i've been to london to compete as sources and outlook of america's losses on for my experience in big business system i had an idea of how the indigenous is truly was and as i read through these american sources so that effort across and it works because according to get any longer and equity requests how something that to go back a few days and strengthen myself emotionally and comic and tsunami historian look at defense as the state you and then go through this an awful some of the celestial come from the us every summer we have some summer schools and programs for them and i find that when i tell them other big businesses and goes a bit confused because they're used to set of venice is the site have a lot of questions trying to understand the internet system so the two are really different and i think it's important to recognize is there's a lot of talk about

slavery in africa