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Beginning of slavery in America
Writing slave narratives
Effect of slavery on modern society
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Oppression and cruelty; just two of the many words used to describe slavery. However no word or words can be used to truly illustrate the hardships and tough times that the slaves went through. In the time of slavery, innocent people were taken from their homes and separated from their families to be sold as workers to people around the world. They did not just work, similar to modern times, they were restrained and held captive while being forced to work in terrible and unsuitable conditions. These people had dark skin, which the slave owners saw as an asset due to the fact that they could stay in the sun longer. In particular was a slave by the name of Olaudah Equiano, who wrote a personal narrative on his own experiences during slavery. In his writings, he did an excellent job in highlighting the oppression and cruelty in his own life and other peoples as well. The point of his narrative was to turn the English public against slavery. Based on what I have read, I can now give a clearer opposition to slavery due to the fact that he has exemplified what slavery was really like.
The idea of taking many, many people from their homelands and bringing them to a foreign place seems a bit over whelming. This seems like impossibility when looked at by the slaves’ point of view. During the times of slaves, the ships and such were not as advanced as they are now. They used wind and oars to power the boats. In addition, these boats were not being produced at a high rate. The point being the ships were so over crowded that it seemed pointless to ship slaves overseas. The slaves were put in these ships and packed into rooms that were not made to accommodate that many people. Equiano writes, "The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely enough room to turn himself, almost suffocated us" (p.56). This was how the slaves were kept when they were put under the deck. Enormous amounts of people packed into one small space. In this situation, one must think about the possible outcomes. If there are a lot of people, literally on top have on another, outbreak of disease will eventually occur- and of course it did.
The North American Slave Trade began when slave traders started to kidnap people of all ages from West Africa. They were forced to endure unspeakable horrors on their trek across the Atlantic as well as when they were finally sold into slavery in the Americas. Olaudah Equiano was one of the few Africans to document his experience on paper, and have his two volume autobiography published. The journey Olaudah suffers through showed the horrors of the trip across the atlantic, but also showed how what he thought and felt about the process as well.
There are few things as brutal as the history of the institution of slavery. In his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, the aforementioned Olaudah Equiano describes the experience of his entrance into slavery.
The fight for racial equality is one of the most prominent issues Americans have faced throughout history and even today; as the idea that enslaving individuals is unethical emerged, many great and innovative authors began writing about the issues that enslaved people had to face. Olaudah Equiano was no exception. In his work The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, he attempts to persuade his readers that the American way of slavery is brutal, inhumane, and unscrupulous. Equiano manages to do this by minimizing the apparent differences between himself and his primarily white audience, mentioning the cruelties that he and many other slaves had to face, and the advantages of treating your slaves correctly.
Olaudah Equiano was a freed slave living in London who made it his life person to abolish the British slave trade. His knowledge and training of the English language allowed him to grow into one of the key figures in the movement to abolish the slave trade in England. Although many scholars acknowledge his incredible talent, there has been evidence in the recent years that may question his reliability as a first-hand account. There is evidence to support that Equiano may have been born in South Carolina. This evidence does not make him a valid source of information about the slave trade and leads his audience to question his statements.
In 1745, Olaudah Equiano was born in a small village in Isseke,Nigeria. His father was one of the chiefs in the village. At age eleven Equiano and his sister were kidnapped by two men and a woman never to see his home or parents again. After being kidnapped he was hiked across part of Africa untill he arrived at the coast where he was loaded onto a slave ship. While crossing the Atlantic to Barbados onboard the slave ship he and his countrymen were subject to horrors you could hardly imagine. Equiano tells about the horrors and torture slaves face not only on the slave ship but also on plantations and many other aspects of a slave's life. Equiano experienced almost all parts of a slave's existence. He was a slave throughout Africa, England, and the New World. Equiano is bought and sold several times. Religion also played a huge role in Equiano's life and I think that it helped him get through some really hard times. He is bought by a British Naval officer and serves in the British Navy during the Seven Years' War. He is then sold to Robert King where he begins trading goods between islands and eventually makes enough money to buy his freedom. Equiano tells of the joy he feels when he becomes a free man. The rest of his life is devoted to helping slaves and to the cause of abolishing slavery.
Slavery in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries consisted of brutal and completely unjust treatment of African-Americans. Africans were pulled from their families and forced to work for cruel masters under horrendous conditions, oceans away from their homes. While it cannot be denied that slavery everywhere was horrible, the conditions varied greatly and some slaves lived a much more tolerable life than others. Examples of these life styles are vividly depicted in the personal narratives of Olaudah Equiano and Mary Prince. The diversity of slave treatment and conditions was dependent on many different factors that affected a slave’s future. Mary Prince and Olaudah Equiano both faced similar challenges, but their conditions and life styles
The slave narratives written by Olaudah Equiano and Frederick Douglass, were important pieces of literature, helping to bring to the life the harsh realities of slavery. Equiano and Douglass, documented their experiences as slaves, to in hopes to connect with white audiences, showing them the immorality and hypocrisy of slavery. While both writers aimed to highlight the inhumanity of slavery, hoping it would lead to abolishment, Douglass and Equiano had different approaches. Both writers were influenced by different eras: Equiano’s writing is influenced by the Enlightenment Period, while Douglass was influenced by Romanticism. Comparing the styles, Douglass’ narratives are stinging, while Equiano’s narrative seems to be more appeasing. However, this has more to do with the influences of their time, than the character of either man. Contrasting styles of both men, echoes the contrasting philosophies of Romanticism and Enlightenment; different but one paves the way for the next.
(191) Equiano became active by promoting and petitioning slavery and dedicated his life to the freedom of his enslaved people. Racial adversity has proven very difficult to overcome, even in today’s society. Olaudah Equiano used his economic intelligence to provide him with the power to accumulate wealth and buy his freedom. Equiano knew he was dealt an uneasy hand of cards at life, but he played them as skillfully and intelligently as he could, with bare instincts. He took advantage of the situations that he was forced into and was able to win his hand at the game of slavery, for he found a way to manipulate the system that opposed him, and used it to his advantage.
In comparison to other slaves that are discussed over time, Olaudah Equiano truly does lead an ‘interesting’ life. While his time as a slave was very poor, there are certainly other slaves that he mentions that received far more damaging treatment than he did. In turn, this inspires him to fight for the abolishment of slavery. By pointing out both negative and positive events that occurred, the treatment he received from all of his masters, the impact that religion had on his life and how abolishing slavery could benefit the future of everyone as a whole, Equiano develops a compelling argument that does help aid the battle against slavery. For Olaudah Equiano’s life journey, he expressed an array of cruelties that came with living the life of an African slave; which demonstrates all of the suffering that he endured, then proving how much it can change one’s point of view in life.
For most American’s especially African Americans, the abolition of slavery in 1865 was a significant point in history, but for African Americans, although slavery was abolished it gave root for a new form of slavery that showed to be equally as terrorizing for blacks. In the novel Slavery by Another Name, by Douglas Blackmon he examines the reconstruction era, which provided a form of coerced labor in a convict leasing system, where many African Americans were convicted on triumphed up charges for decades.
During the late seventeen hundreds former slave, Olaudah Equiano, began his autobiography. In the introduction he clarifies his reason for writing the account; informing his audience that he does not seek fame and fortune and is merely a humble man who wishes to persuade the audience to promote the abolition of slavery and to articulate the horrors of enslavement. Equiano provides a voice for those who were not allowed to advocate for themselves and their rights. He aims to eradicate the idea that slaves are second class versions of a human beings that are treated as objects, diminishing their worth and personal value. Equiano pursues this goal by blending his belief of religion, slavery, and personal adventure with a complexity that appeals
In Bales and Soodalter’s essay, they explore the ways of modern slavery. The two authors claim that modern slavery is an example of “capitalism at its worst.” By definition, capitalism is an economic system in which trade, industry and the means of production are controlled by private owners with a goal of making profit in a market society. Taking modern slavery into context, it can be determined that both capitalism and slavery maintain the same principles. Where as slavery is an economic system in which the trade of human beings creates profit of their owner and eventually their new owner. Modern slavery is truly capitalism at its worst because it demonstrates the true nature of how slavery can be financially successful in the modern day, how money rather than fair treatment is idolized, and the lack of obstacles that perpetuates the life of slavery.
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slavery was cruelty at its best. Slavery is described as long work days, a lack of respect for a human being, and the inability for a man or a woman to have gainful employment. The slaves were victimized the most for obvious reasons. Next on the list would be the families of both the slave and slave owners. At the bottom of the list would be the slave owners. Slavery does in fact victimize slaves, slave owner and their families by repeating the same cycle every generation.
Slavery in America brought about a successful south but also proved to be one of the most terrible things done by humans to humans. Slavery became a way of life in early America. Eight out of the first twelve presidents owned slaves. People in the south benefited from slaves the most. Harvesting those huge cotton fields took many hands. That’s were the slaves became key to the success of the south. Slaves were predominately black Africans. Africans made up the majority but they were not the only ones. Native Americans and even English indentured servants made up the rest of the people put into slavery.
"The Life of Olaudah Equiano” is a captivating story in which Equiano, the author, reflects on his life from becoming a slave to a freeman during the 19th century. Through his experiences and writing, Equiano paints a vivid picture of the atrocities and cruelties of European slavery. Ultimately through his narrative, Equiano intends to persuade his audience, the British government, to abolish the Atlantic slave trade as well as alert them of the harsh treatment of slaves. He successfully accomplishes his goal by subtly making arguments through the use of character, action, and setting.