First black president of the United
States of America
today November 5th.
His name, Obama, Obama has appeared in the world media for many months since he
submitted his name as a candidate for the American presidency and his name has
almost become a household name in many parts of the world particularly in Kenya
where his father was born.
It was reported that the American system of voting had been
changed to a new system of voting and there were fears that this change would
create problems during the voting period. Fortunately everything went on well
and smoothly. Mr. Carayol President of the Gambia Independent Electoral
Commission (I.E.C.) traveled to the states specifically to view and experience
this historic polls in America,
composed of 52 states, hence the name United
States of America
given to the Country. She is also recognised as a major power of the world, and
a cosmopolitan country due to the number of immigrants from different parts of
the world who have settled down in the States and made America
their home. The first settlers, who set sail to the U.S.A.
on board a ship known as the Mayflower from Plymouth
in DevonEngland
in the year 1626, were the first to establish English colony there. The story
of this batch of settlers known as the Pilgrim Fathers is a significant
historical data of that country.
These people left Plymouth
for the U.S.A.
in search of greener pastures.
America
played a fundamental role in the slave trade, which lasted400 years. It was a diabolical trade when
Africans were captured from the coastal towns of West Africa and transported in
very in human conditions to the U.S. where they were sold as slaves to white
slave masters who in turn kept these male and female slaves to work in the
sugar cane plantations of what was known as the Deep South of the U.S.A. Most
of these unfortunate men and women died en route to their various destinations
in America and only the strong and fittest could cope and survived the harsh
conditions of The journeywhich was
traumatic and gruesome. Men and women were chained by their hands and feet and
they were hardly able to move. As to the sanitary conditions, these were
non-existent and many succumbed to serious infections of favor types. Those who
survived the journey were then sold and bought like mere clothes. The female
slaves who were bought were abused by their own masters and used as mistresses.
In no time these women became pregnant, an inevitable result of these abuses
and they produced coloured babies who were brought up in the family in
development of and introduction of the coloured population in the Americas who
were recognised as second-class citizens from birth due to the notorious abuses
by their own masters- a most distasteful and unsavoury practice. This
deplorable trade persisted for 400 years. It was towards the end of 400 long
years that Christians in the community began to recognise the abomination of
such a trade and began to protest against it and fight towards the abolition of
such evil crimes against humanity. Two important names are featured in the
struggle for the abolition of the slave trade and they were notably Abraham
Lincoln who was later murdered and William Wilberforce. After many years of
this struggle for the abolition of slavery they succeeded in their strife and
slavery was abolished officially in 1834 although the practice continued in
some areas/or some time. Those were the dark and dismal periods in American
history when crimes against humanity were committed with impunity and the
blacks suffered degradation and demeaning attitudes from the white members of
the society during 400 years of the slave trade. We have come a long, long, way
from those depressing years of slavery.
This is the more reason why the world has been very
interested and overwhelmed by these recent polls for the American Presidency
the 43rdin American history and the fact that a black
man was one of the contenders. Bravo and well done Barack Obama! You have
created history and become the Moses of the 21stcentury so it appears. God sent Moses to his
people. The Israelites to deliver them from the slavery they endured in those
days. May God fortify you and give you wisdom and energy to cope with the
problems by today's world.
