The Ghost Map Summary

During the 19th century, there were major changes in terms of living conditions and the mindset of people, to the lives of poor Europeans and Africans. The book The Ghost Map, by Steven Johnson, gives a very important example of a tragedy going on in the 19th century. The position of the people in England and how they wanted to handle the situation during their most terrifying epidemic is an important reflection of how the people were during that time. Abina and the Important Men, by Trevor Getz and Liz Clarke gives the history of women without history through the real court case in West Africa. The start of innovation and technology plays a huge role in life during the 19th century.

In England during the 19th century, there was a huge amount

The book Abina and the Important Men, by Trevor Getz and Liz Clarke gives information about this time. Slavery flourished precisely because it buttressed the region's economic system built upon the production of so-called “legitimate” products. By the 1870s, the Gold Coast was an important palm oil producer. Palm oil was a major export from West Africa to Europe, particularly England, during the 19th century. Many of the palm oil plantations depended upon a slave labor force. Since the abolition decree did not affect the condition of wives or concubines, slave owners began to import slave girls to work on plantations and perform other work, as a way of evading the abolition decree. Slave owners would import female slaves and pass them off as members of the household or wives. This was how Abina Mensah came to life as a slave in the Gold Coast.

After three centuries of the slave trade, Europeans had the impression that Africans were inferior. That belief helped to justify imperialism in the minds of many Europeans. Ironically, slave abolitionists contributed to this by arguing that Africans had to be “protected” from slavers, basically saying that they couldn’t fend for themselves. Victorian philosophers had an explanation for African backwardness. Accarding to late 19th century science, human development took place in in three stages: savagery, marked by hunting and gathering, barbarism, accompanied by the beginning of settled agriculture, and civilization, which required the development of commerce. European scientists believed that Africa was stuck in the stage of barbarism because they lived in a place with such good soil and climate. It provided “tropical abundance.” The ease of life in Africa made Africans fat and lazy. For proof, Europeans relied on data about the work habits of African-American slaves, and ignored how seasons determined the rhythm of work for African farmers.