How Enslavement Affected the Lives of Africans

QUESTION

Complete viewing of the videos, Roots Pt 1 & Pt 2. Write a 3-page summary on the life of Africans prior to enslavement and how their lives changed with the capture, transportation and enslavement of Africans in America. Be sure to discuss specific scenes from the videos. Use the rubric as a guide to help you get the most points from your writing.

Here are some instructions though: go on https:jics.richland.edu/ics scroll down click canvas lms , the username is Bhouston the password is Chicago505 get on it and you’ll see a bunch of classes the class is AFAM 120 clock modules click Module 2 assignment 2 and watch the root one and two to write the summary on

ANSWER

How Enslavement Affected the Lives of Africans

Africans’ Way of Life and How Enslavement Changed It

The series begins with part I detailing the life of an African family, where the narrator is taking us back to the life of the young boy, Kunta Kinte, his far ancestor from Juffure, West Africa. The film begins with the birth of Kunta in the Juffure society. The traditions and social beliefs of the community are shown clearly throughout the miniseries. For instance, after the birth of Kunta, his father lifts him up above his head to present him to the night sky as “the only thing greater than yourself,” referring to God. Kunta is brought up and trained by Mandinka warriors in a callous way, to become just like his father, a powerful and robust man. Kunta’s father desires that he grows up to be an excellent young man who carries on with the Mandinka traditions and the way of life of the Juffure society. The film, Roots, portrays the Kinte clan as a line of fighters that is reliable, proud, and very intelligent, well-connected over many years by the seas and a consistent spirit of resistance. We are even shown how Kunta is initiated into a warrior camp through a setup abduction by slavers.

Kunta falls in love with a beautiful young girl, Jinna, and wishes to flee with her because she is promised to another man. A fierce rivalry ensues between the family of Kunta and that of the young man intended for Jinna, and this becomes the beginning of misery for Kunta. The rival family, involved in slave trade, ensures that he is captured and sold into slavery, together with Jinna and other community members, to settle scores. His father effortlessly tries to defend locals from the English slavers, but the efforts proved futile after Kunta is captured. The captives experience a difficult voyage in the slave ship that delivers them to various farms in America, with Kunta ending up at The Waller plantation. He becomes a close friend of an old house slave, Fiddler, who is trusted by the farm’s owner, John Waller and his wife, Elizabeth. This first part portrays the life of Africans before the slavery era, their traditions and culture, all of which are radically affected and changed after enslavement and relocation into America. The way of life of the Mandinka warriors and the Kinte clan, in general, is wiped out in the second part of the film.

Part II carries on with the life of Kunta Kinte at the Waller plantation, ten years after his captivity. It begins with Kunta on the run, where the film’s narrator tells us of how he has spent all the ten years at the farm planning and even attempting escapes, to no avail. He runs into the British soldiers while running from the farm, and is involved in a brawl with overseer Connelly, who calls him by his new name, Toby. Kunta, however, seems to be rejecting the name and tries to choke Connelly. He is cornered by the soldiers and tries to talk them into taking him to serve with them in the army, as his skills as a Mandinka warrior would be helpful. He is taken to a camp of runaways and recruits.

Kunta assumes unofficial leadership of other slave recruits at the camp, his father’s spirit reincarnated in him. His friend, Carlton, had his eye put out because he cried when his mother and sisters were sold off into slavery. While getting ready for war, the slaves and natives are only given pikes, while the British carry guns. Kunta leads his followers to refuse to advance unless given guns, but the threat of execution leaves them with no alternative but to proceed. He escapes out of the war alive, and slave patrollers cut half of his left foot off to prevent him from running again. After traumatic experiences and flashbacks, he recovers and forms a troubled friendship with Belle, another slave on the Waller farm.

Kunta heals up and uses his Mandinka warrior training to control horses at the farm, impressing Dr. Waller, promoting him to a horse trainer and carriage driver. Kunta later marries Belle, as their friendship continues to grow, in a wedding filled with untold fear as their overseer is in the background, roaming. The wedding is cut short when Kunta, now his master’s carriage driver, has to take Dr. Waller to cater for his brother’s wife. Kunta and Belle have a baby, and Fiddler plays Kunta’s mother’s song for them. Patrollers, however, come in, and battle with Fiddler and Kunta, leading to the Fiddler’s death. He later names his child Kizzy, and lifts her to the sky, just as his father had done to him. This shows us that his traditions are still instilled in him. The film shows how later Kizzy and Missy, Waller’s daughter, become friends. They do not understand why differences exist between their fathers when Missy tries to teach Kizzy how to read (Tucker, Shah, 1992). She is later sold into slavery and even gets raped at the farm of Tom Lea.

Roots portrays how slave trade affected the lives of Africans. The Mandinka community at Juffure was leading their normal traditional life, training men as warriors, dedicating their children to the sky, and women being promised to suitors without their considering their feelings. Fathers trained their sons to become strong, respected men in the society, who would carry on the society’s traditions and culture. The advent of slave trade tears apart the traditional social structure and family, leading to changes in the roles of society members. Kunta becomes a slave at the Waller farm, tasked with horse training and carriage driving. He is previously forced to fight for the British soldiers in battle, even without proper arms. He however still assumes the leadership roles instilled in him back at his village in West Africa, when he tries to force the British into giving him and his colleagues, guns. The slave lords disregard the culture of their African slaves, even giving them new names. Kunta rejects his new name, Toby, even though later on, he is left with no option but to accept it. He cannot even carry on with his personal life at ease, as his master expects him always to be ready to take him wherever he pleases.

The African slaves live in fear, having to carry out social functions such as marriage and childbirth in hiding. Their overseers are seen continuously around them, having no privacy at all. Slaves who try to escape are shot dead, such as Noah, or sold off to other lords to serve; Kizzy is sold off to the Tom Lea farm. She is not even allowed to learn how to read, and Dr. Waller is angered by his daughter’s attempt to teach her. There exists no respect for the Africans, with the women and girls getting raped by their masters, even as the masters’ wives watch helplessly.

References

The 1977 film miniseries, Roots, part I and II.

Tucker, L. R., & Shah, H. (1992). Race and the transformation of culture: The making of the   television miniseries Roots. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 9(4), 325-336.