ipl-logo

Olaudah Equiano Hardships

495 Words2 Pages

Way Back When
“Analysis of the Hardships of the Slave Trade”
Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward (Kiam, Victor). Sometimes it may seem as though you aren’t not moving forward in life, but in actuality you are always moving. Olaudah Equiano describes the trip him and many other slaves took across the ocean. Many of the slaves on the boat were kidnapped. This means that they were not slaves before this (page 171). In The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano, he voices many hardships that him and many of the slaves faced on the journey.
In The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano, Olaudah address starvation and dehydration. The slaves didn’t get to eat very much, and when they did it was in miniscule quantities. Periodically, the crew would eat in front of the slaves that were on the deck. One day after the crew had satisfied themselves, they the extra fish over the side of the boat and back into the ocean. The slaves begged and begged and prayed for the crew to give them some of the fish (page 173). Some of the slaves got so hungry they tried to steal some the food, they always got caught. Not only did these slaves die of starvation or dehydration, but so did many other slaves in the world (Horton). …show more content…

Several of the slaves fell into a deep depression on the journey to North America. Some slaves didn’t take this very well and jumped overboard. Olaudah envied the freedom those people were brought from jumping overboard (page 173). Others fell into depression because they were chained for most of the journey (page 172). It has been said that a few of them jumped because they were severely sick or they preferred death over a miserable life (Daniels,

Show More
Related

  • Southern Slavery Research Paper

    1538 Words  | 7 Pages

    In Africa, men, women, and children were being kidnapped and sold. Once abducted from their home, Europeans would make their way back to the port to transport the slaves to the New World. Most of the time salves never knew where they would end up. Before Africans would be transported, each slave would be branded on the chest and this was a way to claim a slave for when they tried to escape (Hylton). Once boarded on a ship

    Read More

  • Olaudah Equiano Journey

    507 Words  | 3 Pages

    The autobiography “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” of former slave Olaudah Equiano, is a detailed account of his journey, starting from the time he was kidnapped from his home, separated from his family, and later separated from his sister. He was eventually loaded into a slave ship, which sets sail for Barbados. The story continues through the time he was a slave until the time he bought his own freedom and, subsequently, write the autobiography. To help readers visualize the reality he lived through, Equiano uses in-depth descriptions of the experiences and conditions he endued in his journey. The transatlantic journey taken by Olaudah Equiano in “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” demonstrate him to be curious, strong-willed, and frightened individual.

    Read More

  • Dbq Voices From The Slave Trade

    532 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the documents “Considering the Evidence: Voices from the Slave Trade” it shows how the Atlantic slave trade was an enormous enterprise and enormously significant in modern world history. In document 15.1 - The Journey to Slavery it talks about the voice of an individual victim of the slave trade known as Olaudah Equiano. Equiano was taken from his home and sold into the slave trade. He worked for three different families while in the slave trade but what is different about him is that he learned to read and write while being a slave. He traveled extensively as a seaman aboard one of his masters' ships, and was allowed to buy his freedom in 1766.

    Read More

  • How Did African American Culture Affect The Middle Passage

    1035 Words  | 5 Pages

    Many slaves would try to commit suicide and some even refused to eat, when they could. They were fed only twice daily very small food portions. When an African American would die their body would be thrown overboard into the water. When they reached the New World they were fed and cleaned, they would be auctioned off to the whites there. When they got to the New World they had a chain around their necks, feet, and hands.

    Read More

  • The Overall Message Of Marcus Rediker

    1498 Words  | 6 Pages

    Even though the captive’s rebellions failed, their hope and desire to keep fighting pursued, ensuring that they would not give up their fight to survive. They needed something to keep them going on the long journey, the desire to retaliate and do something rather than suffer in such misery. Resistance gave relief to slaves on their journey from their home to a land they knew nothing about. These slaves needed such a way to relieve such build up and remorse and they sometimes took it to extreme measures when realizing what their life was going to become.

    Read More

  • Ap Euro Dbq Essay On Slavery

    870 Words  | 4 Pages

    is known many things. Earning independance from Great Britain and being huge advocators for democracy. However, America has a dark but well-known past. Slavery. Native African trembled in fear when they saw the white mans face.

    Read More

  • How Does Frederick Douglass Use Direct Language

    1257 Words  | 6 Pages

    For years, the institution of slavery existed in the United States and was characterized by the legal, inhumane treatment of those enslaved. One of the most prominent figures during this time was Frederick Douglass, an African-American abolitionist who detailed his own experiences in the practice. Having spent most of his life enslaved and wishing to escape, when he finally did he would find himself in a new and overwhelming situation. In this excerpt of his autobiography, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” he describes his life after escaping slavery and shows how his state of mind goes from being enthusiastic over freedom to suddenly fearful and lonely. To convey his change, Douglass uses deliberate language, such as various

    Read More

  • Atlantic Slave Trade Dbq Essay

    1194 Words  | 5 Pages

    This meant that slaves would begin to lose their minds due to the horrible and cruel treatment they received. Even slaves who had already survived the Middle Passage and had been sold to masters would also often lose their minds due to their despair and abuse. Slave masters and overseers did not respect or care if their slave was happy, they only cared that they were working their fields. Often slaves would be slashed with whips and clubs that broke their bodies and

    Read More

  • African Slave Trade Dbq Essay

    876 Words  | 4 Pages

    Millions of African men, women, and children were plucked from their homes and shipped over to the colonies in exchange for goods. As a result of the absence of humanitarian concerns, slaves during the period of Atlantic

    Read More

  • Slave Dancer Quotes

    1147 Words  | 5 Pages

    “The people of the great vessel were wicked: when we had been shipped, they took away all the small pieces of cloth which were on our bodies, and threw them into the water, then they took chains and tethered two together. Every morning they had to take the man, and throw them into the water,” (First Hand Accounts Case Study). This quote suggests that the crew expressed little sympathy to slaves. This is demonstrated in the novel by Paula Fox The Slave Dancer.

    Read More

  • Learning To Read Frederick Douglass Literary Analysis

    575 Words  | 3 Pages

    Our first reading of EN101, Fredrick Douglass’ “Learning to Read,” helped our class to better understand the privilege of being a writer. Douglass lives in Hugh Auld’s household for roughly seven years. During this time, he is able to learn how to read and write, though Mrs. Auld is hardened and no longer tutors him. Slavery hurts Mrs. Auld as much as it hurts Douglass himself. The mentality of slavery strips her of her inherent sympathy for others, making her hardened and cruel.

    Read More

  • Indentured Servants In America

    566 Words  | 3 Pages

    The slaves, feeling the same homesickness that plagued the indentured servants, took one step further and tried to escape the boats by jumping overboard, such was their desire to return

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass: Overcoming Obstacles

    392 Words  | 2 Pages

    Douglass encountered multiple harsh realities of being enslaved. For example, the ex-slave was practically starved to death by his masters on multiple occasions. In fact, “[He was] allowed less than a half of a bushel of corn-meal per week, and very little else... It was not enough for [him] to subsist upon... A great many times [he had] been nearly perishing with hunger” (pg 31).

    Read More

  • Olaudah Equiano

    889 Words  | 4 Pages

    My name is Olaudah Equiano. I was born in the Eboe of Africa. While I was just a young child, my sister and I were taken by kidnappers and they sold us to these slave traders. This was the worst and terrifying day of my life. I was sent to the West Indies or the island of Barbados.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis

    935 Words  | 4 Pages

    Slavery is equally a mental and a physical prison. Frederick Douglass realized this follow-ing his time as both a slave and a fugitive slave. Douglass was born into slavery because of his mother’s status as a slave. He had little to go off regarding his age and lineage. In the excerpt of the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

    Read More

More about Olaudah Equiano Hardships

Open Document