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Role of slavery during colonial america
History of slavery and its impact on US society
Role of slavery during colonial america
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“As I stare through the floor of an unknown vessel into an everlasting sea of clouds I ponder on what I had did to be in this situation or would I ever reunite with my family or will the gentleman beside me make it through the night.” The realization that slavery caused many families, lives, and individuals to be destroyed is gruesome. Through the memoir of Olaudah Equiano, the first-person accounts of the treatment of enslaved and free Africans is revealed, which helps him in the battle against African enslavement. Olaudah Equiano was an abolitionist during the 18th century who sought to end African enslavement. He was born in African Providence of Eboe. Eboe was a small providence of the Kingdom of Benin. Up until 1756, Equiano had never …show more content…
Equiano stated that, “[t]ourtures, murder, and every other imaginable barbarity and iniquity are practiced upon the poor slaves with impunity (p.234).” European society considered enslaved individuals to be cattle. The living conditions of the slaves were the same or in some cases worse than livestock. Slaves were starved, beaten, and killed for some of the most obscene reasons such as: as stealing food to feed their children or trying to escape the horrendous wrath of their owners. However, Equiano explained how being a free slave was worse than being enslaved. He encountered a free slave in the Caribbean who was still treated as a slave. This individual was forced to move from the Caribbean to another location. Even though these individuals are coined as “free”, the freedom for former slaves is limited. The transition from a free individual to a slave and back to a “free” slave was a rare occurrence during the time of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Equiano’s experiences and determination to dissolve the enslavement of Africans made me reevaluate my standing on the influence of different countries on slavery. Equiano’s memoir would be an excellent source for history courses because it reveals the truth behind African enslavement …show more content…
Equiano described a number of customs and traditions that were shared between whites and Africans. One common tradition shared between the two races (commonly associated with individuals who practice Judaism) was circumcision. He found numerous similarities between the Africans and whites. However, he exclaimed that the only difference was the skin color and the causation of that was from the different geographic locations. Equiano was able to create logical and reasonable rebuttals against slavery using moral and religious grounds. Which brought attention to the societies who were major contenders in enslavement. However, societies were more worried about making a profit than the wellbeing of another individual. It reveals that the two societies played a major role in the continuance of slavery, even when multiple groups and people (the Quakers played a huge role, alongside the Africans, in bringing an end to slavery) were explaining the wrong occurring. Even after the death of Equiano, the battle against slavery continued until the 19th century. However, the ideologies and work of Olaudah Equiano continued to be used by other
Equiano was the youngest of his brothers who enjoyed playing outside throwing javelins enjoying the normal life of a small child. At the beginning of the day, the elders would leave their children at home while they went out into the fields to work. While they were gone, some of the children would get together to play but always took precautions of potential kidnappers. Even with all these precautions, people were still seized from their homes and taken away. Equiano was home one day with his little sister tending to the everyday household needs when out of nowhere they were captured by a couple men who had gotten over the walls. They had no time to resist or scream for help before they found themselves bound, gagged, and being taken away. Equiano had no idea where these people were taking him and they didn’t stop once until nightfall where they stayed until dawn. He tells us about how they traveled for many days and nights not having any clue where they were going or when they would get there. Slaves traveled by land and by sea, but Equiano’s journey was by sea. He tells us how he was carried aboard and immediately chained to other African Americans that were already on the ship. Once the ship halted on land, Equiano along with many other slaves were sent to the merchant’s yard where they would be herded together and bought by the
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.
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
Equiano finally gains his liberty and begins to develop his character as he converts his religion and becomes a faithful man. Equiano immerses himself and is allowed to blend into Western society. Works Cited Equiano, Olaudah. [1789] 1987. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African.
Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, and Olaudah Equiano all have extremely interesting slave narratives. During their lives, they faced plenty of racist discrimination and troubling moments. They were all forced into slavery at an awfully young age and they all had to fight for their freedom. In 1797, Truth was born into slavery in New York with the name of Isabella Van Wagener. She was a slave for most of her life and eventually got emancipated. Truth was an immense women’s suffrage activist. She went on to preach about her religious life, become apart of the abolitionist movement, and give public speeches. Truth wrote a well-known personal experience called An Account of an Experience with Discrimination, and she gave a few famous speech called Ain’t I a Woman? and Speech at New York City Convention. In 1818, Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born into slavery in Tuckahoe, Maryland. When he was older, he made an escape plan by disguising himself as a sailor and going on a train to New York. When he became a free man, he changed his name to Frederick Douglass and married Anna Murray. He went on to give many speeches and he became apart of the Anti-Slavery Society. Douglass wrote his story From My Bondage and My Freedom and became a publisher for a newspaper. In 1745, Olaudah Equiano was born in Essaka, Nigeria. Equiano and his sister were both kidnapped and put on the middle passage from Africa to Barbados and then finally to Virginia. He eventually saved enough money to buy his freedom and got married to Susanna Cullen. Equiano wrote his story down and named it From the Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. He spent the rest of his life promoting the abolition movement. Throughout the personal slave narra...
In this week’s assignment I choose to write about Olaudah Equiano was born if Africa. He was kidnapped when he was around eleven years old and sold into slavery. He eventually was freed and supported Great Britain in the fight to end slavery. There have been statements made that he was not born in Africa but born here in South Carolina. This could change how people see his memoir when they read it.
Throughout his autobiography, Equiano describes his own challenging experiences of learning the English language, and how it was that he came to read and write. He traces his conversion to Christianity. This is to persuasively present himself as a virtuous example of the African people. For example, Equiano goes into great detail about the history of the place he was born and how the society was run. He demonstrates that African culture was not barbaric and chaotic, but that the product of a different, yet completely functional and peaceful society. Equiano’s purpose is to have his readers to see beyond the stereotypes and consider African slaves as fellow human
In The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, by and about Olaudah Equiano, the author presents himself in an ideal way for the intended audience. At the time of the original publication, the audience consisted of the British upper-class; many of these people were ambivalent regarding the abolitionist movement. The purpose of this book was to encourage them to care enough about the plight of slaves to support the movement. Equiano willingly uses himself as a representation of all current and former slaves and people who are African or of African descent, if there is anyone he does not represent, he includes them as a separate person in his book. He uses his identification with Christianity and mastery of the English language to
Olaudah Equiano is the author of “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano”, and “The Horror of A Slave Ship” is just one of the chapters in his book. Born a free African man but Equiano was kidnapped together with his sister, he had a frightful experience travelling on a slave ship across Atlantic Ocean to the island of Barbadoes. Throughout his life, Equiano had a handful of masters, was given a new name, and eventually regained his freedom with help of his owner. Soon Equiano moved to London and married to an British woman. From there on, he devoted the rest of his life to support an anti-slave movement in British.
Olaudah Equiano’s name means well spoken and favored. He lived up to his name, being one of the only Africans to climb Europe’s social ladder, during the Enlightenment. He was kidnapped at the age of eleven and sold into slavery. Although in slavery, he gained knowledge, literacy, and became a Christian. He was able to buy his freedom from a Quaker master. He did not hide in fear after being set free, but instead lived life boldly. His published his story under the title, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Told by Himself. His memoir was so sought after because of his rare social status and his debate on the humanness of Africans.
Olaudah Equiano's, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, was such a compelling memoir. From his experience of seeing people of different “complexions”, to being beaten, and then almost suffocating from being forced to live in filth and confinement (Perkins 166). The cruelty Equiano experienced was being hungry but having to watch the whites eat fish and fill themselves full but rather giving the extra fish to the slaves, they would throw the fish back into the ocean (Perkins 166). Equiano's experience is a deeply involved slave narrative that captivates the reader, becoming a writing that is easy to read and helps the reader feel as if he/she is seeing it for themselves.
He has a desire to improve slavery in the West Indies, to the standard of his homeland. While he greatly condemns those that kidnap free Africans, and treat their slaves badly, he does not condemn slave owners who treat their slaves well. This suggests that Equiano has no problem with slavery, just with the slave trade and ill treatment of slaves. The abolition of the slave trade would improve the treatment of slaves, and would lessen the amount of free Africans being kidnapped, because there would be no ‘market’ anymore. Furthermore Equiano is likened to an ameliorist success story. Mr King treats Equiano fairly and well, and both parties gain from the arrangement. Equiano is turned into the grateful slave that still remains bound to Mr King even after he is free, due to incredibly loyalty. Equiano’s narrative suggests that ameliorist aims work well. Equiano goes as far to imply that slavery is almost easier than being free. Slavery gives slaves the protection of a master. He implies that Africans still need white men to protect them, because society is not set up in terms of law to help them. Ultimately it is not slavery that Equiano has a problem with, but the set up of slavery in the West, and its laws for free men. Equiano believes in a less harsh kind of slavery, which offers the opportunity to gain liberty. Equiano does not want to condemn slavery entirely because it is useful to him, and it gives him a place in European society. He therefore condemns the slave trade because it offers a plausible way to reform the
"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.
Olaudah Equiano, the author of Equiano’s Travels, was born to the Igbo people in what is now modern day Nigeria. He was kidnapped and sold into slavery at the age of eleven. He starts off his autobiography by describing the ways in which his people lived. For example, he mentions generalizations of his community, “We are almost a nation of dancers, musicians, and poets.” and he also gives specific details, “Thus every great event such as a triumphant return from battle or other cause of public rejoicing is celebrated in public dances, which are accompanied with songs and music suited to the occasion” (Equiano, My Early Life in Eboe). The book goes on to describe how Equiano was kidnapped from his home, “when all our people were gone … two men and a woman got over our walls … seized us both, … stopped our mouths and ran off with us”, taken to the coast, “… after I had been kidnapped I arrived at the sea coast,” and sold into slavery (Equiano, Kidnapped). There are very few Africans who were able to give a first hand account of their experience that then was published for the world to read. This is harrowing to think because only one voice was heard amongst the millions who suffered the same treatment in silence. While this primary source is fantastic for first-hand factual information
Many African Americans were unwillingly bound in a life of servitude as the property of a slaveholder or household which inhibited their opportunity to escape the unforeseen hazards that would come from the grasp of slavery. Becoming a slave limited African American's ability to become educated and produced a life of captivity that many did not escape due to the trials and tribulations from their new life-styles. Olaudah Equiano was amongst the few who were able to contrive a plan of action to overcome the torments of slavery and experience a life of freedom, out of slavery. Equiano's sensible and psychological methods supply the means for him to earn his freedom. Equiano's "Interesting Narrative" illustrates his fight with slavery and his achievement in over-coming slavery and his victory in earning freedom.