Olaudah Equiano On Slavery Analysis

The African Kingdoms were kidnapping slaves from other Africans Kingdoms and trading them with Europeans. In the 15th century some enslaved

Many slaves being shipped to America had been betrayed by their own race, kidnapped and sold into slavery. The conditions on the ship were horrendous and each man was chained to an area and given about six feet long by fifteen inches wide. The boats were extremely packed with close corners and no bathroom, and women or children got even less space than the men. Many a times, the crew tried to justify the chaining by stating the it was a form of protection to avoid an uprising. In one of the examples Rediker gave, the slave ship, with Captain Tomba, who was known for brutal beatings including whipping, handing out cruel punishments to scare the other slaves into not acting out.

The banned book that I chose to read for this quarter was “The Confessions of Nat Turner” by William Styron. The book is loosely based upon the slave rebellion that Nat Turner led in Southampton County, Virginia from August 21-23, 1831. The book starts with Nat Turner waiting for his trial for the rebellion, and then proceeds to look back on his life and then tell the novels through a series of flashbacks. The flashbacks start with his first slave master, Samuel Turner, and end with him leading the slave rebellion. The book has also come under quite a bit of criticism however.

Fear played a major role in the reasoning for the fake plan. The reasoning started with word from a little boy, around eight or nine. The boy, Benny, sat and listened to the slaves talking one day and heard Orange, one of the head slaves, say “the whipping business would stop.” When Benny asked why, Orange responded, “a resting place in hell. ”4

Equiano’s narrative not only opens doors to ending slavery, but gives us some clear insight about the many struggles the slaves endure. “Equaino Olaudah was born in the mid-1700s, in the tribe of Ibo in the village of Essaka (Benin) from the kingdom of Benin which is southeastern Nigeria, West Africa”. According to the author, “Equiano was captured by black slave raider at age 11or 12, then he and his sister were kidnapped. After he and his sister were kidnapped, they were separated, he spent months in the administration of a dark ruler, whose treatment of him was mellow compared and the ruthlessness of the British slave merchants to whom he was sold before long. “He was taken to Barbados in West Indies by the slave merchants, however, he was not sold there, the traders took him to America, he was bought by a Virginia plantation owner in America”.

Both King and Douglass were advocating for the same thing: their constitutional sanction of freedom. Both men, in their respective letters touch upon parallel thoughts and beliefs that revolve around the much bigger topic of racial inequality and discrimination. Both men were discriminated against and they talk about their experiences and plight in their very distinctive yet special styles. Born in the year 1817, in an era of open and unashamed slave trade, Frederick Douglass’s story begins as a serf to Mrs. Hugh in the city of Maryland.

“I didn't know I was a slave until I found out I couldn't do the things I wanted,” Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass an escaped slave gave his speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” to a group of White Americans to try to convince them to support abolitionism. Throughout his speech Frederick Douglass talks about the treatment of the slaves and how even though slaves are human they don’t get the same rights as Whites do. In his speech Douglass effectively uses his experiences to prove his credibility, evoke emotion from his audience, and uses logic and reasoning throughout his speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July.” First of in his speech Frederick Douglass starts off by asking rhetorical question about why he is here

An American Slave,” Douglass discusses the horrors of being enslaved and a fugitive slave. Through Douglass’s use of figurative language, diction and repetition he emphasizes the cruelty he experiences thus allowing readers to under-stand his feelings of happiness, fear and isolation upon escaping slavery. Figurative language allocates emotions such as excitement, dread and seclusion. As a slave you have no rights, identity or home. Escaping slavery is the only hope of establishing a sense of self and humanity.

Crispus Attucks, who was he; a patriot, a rebel rouser, a martyr? The ones who simply do not care will never know, but the ones who look closer will find an inspiring life. Known as the first casualty of the Revolution, he is honored and revered by many. We don’t know much about his childhood, being a slave, but here is what experts do know as fact.

Slave Ship Luis D. Nieves Introduction to Humanities Western Governors University Analysis if “The Slave Ship” painting by J.M.W. Turner A1: Initial Thoughts This painting caught my attention starting with the tittle and tone of the piece. Bright colors reflect what seems like dawn coming down on the ship a deep sense of chaos as my eyes turn to the bodies drowning on the rough sea. Tons of questions come to mind, was the storm responsible for the struggling lives at sea or where they throw by others on purpose?

Mary Rowlandson’s encounter began with death and destruction in her village,

The Life of a Slave Slavery a name known since the beginning of time but I will be focusing on the year of 1619 to 1865. When Africans first arrived at the colonial America and how they got there. They greatly influenced the lives throughout the thirteen colonies. People failed to realize they were humans just like them.

He had a slaveholder who was always “cursing, raving, cutting, and slashing among the slaves of the field, in the most frightful manner” (29). Although he was rarely beat, he constantly have to go without food and be in the cold. There was also Mr. Covey, who was a notorious “slave breaker” who gave Douglass “ a very severe whipping,

Therefore, they were more than likely on their as prisoners, since Africa was invaded and people were stolen to be slaves. Black people have been fighting since the Native Americans were invaded and taken over by the English settlers. Slavery and freedom, unfortunately, go hand in hand with one another. People cannot expect people to be slaves without trying to escape for their freedom, the reason freedom exists is because slavery was formed. What is worse is that they were stolen from their home to become a servant, then they were whipped if they tried to escape or tried to stand their ground.

Olaudah Equiano begins his journal entry by describing the ocean and the slave ship, which were the first things he saw when he was taken onto the slave ship. He was fascinated by them, but he soon realized that it was going to be a horrific journey. Equiano’s first thought was that they were going to kill him, for they had a different skin tone, bore long hair, and spoke a different language. The crew beat Olaudah when he refused to eat. The conditions under the deck where Equiano lived were dreadful: people were packed together so tightly that they were fighting for breathing room.