Slavery had been a tradition in African culture. Many states within Africa had practiced slavery through forced labor, debt bondage, as well as, many other forms. Slaves from the Muslim dominated North African coast had been tested but it was found that the slaves were too educated and thus were more prone to rebel. This seems to be an early indication that slavery was unethical, but it still prevailed centuries to come as the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade emerged. Was the failure of the recruitment of the Northern Coast slaves due to the intellectual properties of the slaves and could the solution to this have been to find less educated Africans in order to force the burden of slavery upon them?
Slaves had to be dehumanized for the slaveowners to rationalize what they were doing, and therefore, as is commonly known, slave brutality was severe. The thought of emancipation, that slaves would no longer be suppressed in the South lead to fear for uprising, vengeance, etc. on the then former slave owners. These uprisings had happened before and the southern slave owners were terrified of what would happen if they weren't being suppressed. Emancipation would also mean that slaves would become free and citizens on equal standing with the whites.
To voice their burden of being slaves, female slaves had to struggle a lot whereas male slaves recorded their anger, frustration and feelings of powerlessness, nonetheless, their common experience of dehumanizing conditions of slavery creates a powerful communal voice. Through their narratives, the black managed to esteem and preserve their value system including, music, songs, voodoo, beliefs, spirituals, religion, ancestors, kinship-ties, herbal medicines, food habits etc. The slave narratives have been read by critics as rerecording of history of slavery, as of humanity of the blacks as they also carried with them from ‘South’ by forging their cultural principles into new forms of expression that would sustain the conditions they met in ‘North’. Through these forms they were able to respond to social, racial and economic exploitation under which they
It is similar to the feeling of being underestimated. The brave Africans were underestimated and were not valued and perhaps up to this day, they are racially discriminated by immoral, rude individuals and dreadful communities. Millions of Africans were captured and sent to America as slaves. Also, they were sold and traded as if they weren’t living. They aren’t just robbed out from their homelands but their souls and beliefs are also judged.
Equiano’s Travels provides a wonderful description of enslavement in West Africa and also the Middle Passage to make it seem as if you are actually there. Equiano used various descriptive words to describe the conditions of enslavement across the Atlantic Ocean. In chapter one, Equiano explains his village, Elboe, in terms of what he experienced, the traditions, and he mentions a little about slavery domestically. The way slavery existed was generally by a punishment of a crime. Slaves were only “.
You have probably thought that slavery was bad but you have no idea how bad it actually was. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, a Autobiography by Frederick Douglass, his purpose of the story was to expose the real darkness of a slavery. Douglass was a slave before and he has gone through a lot of pain during those times. Douglass’ position on slavery was that slavery was terrible for slaves & that it corrupts the slave owners because the slave owners dehumanized other slaves, the slaves were treated inhumanely and were broken mentally. People believe that slavery is good for the slave owners and for the slaves, on the other hand Frederick Douglass believes that slavery corrupts the slave owners.
Inhumane treatment and unbearable conditions caused many of them to resist through insurrectionary and non insurrectionary efforts . This SBA will show that marronage was a more successful from of resistance than insurrectionary resistance in gaining freedom in the British Caribbean between 1700 and 1834 . It is important that this topic is studied because it is essential to know that many slaves tried in various ways to end the constant ill-treatment they faced on plantations. It is equally essential to show the effectiveness of their endeavors such as marronage which gave many slaves the most freedom they could gain at that time (1700 – 1834). Freedom In the British Caribbean the revolts did not secure the permanent freedom of the enslaved.
The process of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was a maniac and unsafe affair. Nevertheless, as the demand for slaves grew for the Europeans, African chiefs would organize raids to take people from other societies and frequently launch wars to capture victims for slave trade. People taken right out of their homes, fields, and villages; people’s lives changed instantly. In the book The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Olaudah shows just how frightening, awful, and changing this experience really is for the good and the bad. The book begins with Equiano explaining the history of the place that he was born which is Eboe, a kingdom of Benin, located in Guinea.
Usually, in history when you read about slavery you think about the harsh conditions that African Americans endured. Equiano however, did not encounter most of the harsh conditions that many African Americans faced. The life of Equiano was very unique and remarkable. The slave trade showed how Europeans treated African American Slaves versus how Africans treated slaves. Equiano was sold and traveled too many countries.
However, based on the limited text available, it has been identified that the role of males in the Caribbean has been passed on from the historical period of Caribbean colonization and slavery. Many African males were captured and transferred to the Caribbean region. In addition, European colonizers, of which were mostly males were also a part of the process of developing African male’s roles and responsibilities in the new world. Though the African males had inclined characteristics of “hunters and gatherers” which existed amongst African communities prior to the period of enslavement, many resisted being re-socialized to the customs and traits of the Europeans. However, in contemporary Caribbean, Chevannes (2001) indicates as cited by that based on experiential knowledge, it is evident that large numbers of adolescent males are in trouble.