The Interesting Narrative Of Olaudah Equiano
The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano depicts an African man’s journey through slavery and freedom. Equiano was influenced by the British and eventually tried to persuade the British to abolish slavery. The expressions offered by Equiano symbolize a man of intelligence and understanding. During the eighteenth-century Equiano was known as an African and a British man. This paper will argue how slavery did not define Equiano’s intelligence as a man.
Equiano was born as an Igbo in Nigeria during seventeen forty-five. At the age of eleven Equiano was taken captive and sold into slavery. During slavery he was named “Olaudah, which in our language, signifies vicissitude, or fortunate also; one favored (Equaino 41)” There are a variety of names that Equiano is given during his captivity.
Identity was something that those ruling during enslavement did not want to become an issue amongst the slaves. Having an identity would draw attention to independence and self-recognition. The name that Equiano
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“I had never seen among people such instances of brutal cruelty (Equaino 56).” Cruelty was not only shown towards blacks but also among whites. The British were people of such noble and high standards, but they were seeking to low levels by enslaving humans just as the rest of the world. The horrors that occurred during the middle passage are detailed as gruesome and appalling.
Inhumanity was a major issue during the middle passage. Slaves were treated as property with little value. Beatings and assaults occurred in various places along the slave trade. Also, because of the prosperous slave trade, slaves were sold suddenly and had no time to say goodbye to their families. This narrative brought readers attention to the reasons behind slavery and why this cruel journey continued to take place during the eighteenth century. Slaves were being used for work to benefit economies around the
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Olaudah Equiano Research Paper
507 Words | 3 PagesHe travelled a lot. To the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the Arctic as he attempted to reach the North Pole. When returning to London, he came into contact with an anti-slavery campaigner, Granville Sharp when Equiano had heard his friend, John Annis, a former African American cook and a freed slave, was kidnapped by John’s former owner. Equiano and Sharp tried to save Annis but didn’t make it.
Life Of Olaudah Equiano And Argument Upholding Slavery
1160 Words | 5 PagesThis was the corruption of the white men of that time who were afraid of the truth surfacing and everyone finding out the truth about slavery. Equiano was able to share a little detail about how slaves were treated by saying that “[he] was first transported to Barbados and then Virginia, where he was purchased by a local planter,” (512). This action shows the reader that the slaves were treated as a form of property that was sold for labor. Equiano was never given the chance to gain the same freedom as a white man, he had to work for money. He goes on to say "I was now exceedingly miserable, and thought myself worse off than any of the rest of my companions ...
Alexander Falconbridge Essay
479 Words | 2 PagesHe later gained his freedom and moved to England. While he was there he became a Christian and did missionary work. He was an abolitionist and he wrote his auto-biography. When Equiano got on the boat, he was afraid the Europeans were going to kill him. He looked around the boat and saw black people chained together with sad looks on their faces.
Creating African Americans Chapter 1 Summary
485 Words | 2 PagesThis chapter addresses the central argument that African history and the lives of Africans are often dismissed. For example, the author underlines that approximately 50,000 African captives were taken to the Dutch Caribbean while 1,600,000 were sent to the French Caribbean. In addition, Painter provides excerpts from the memoirs of ex-slaves, Equiano and Ayuba in which they recount their personal experience as slaves. This is important because the author carefully presents the topic of slaves as not just numbers, but as individual people. In contrast, in my high school’s world history class, I can profoundly recall reading an excerpt from a European man in the early colonialism period which described his experience when he first encountered the African people.
Olaudah Equiano Rhetorical Analysis
683 Words | 3 PagesIn Equiano's personal slave narrative, "The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African", Equiano flips the idea that the African people are backwards and barbaric, thus ripe for slavery, by demonstrating his personal exceptionalism through his literacy to show that it is truly the white people who are backwards and barbaric through their own hypocrisy. This reversal that Equiano demonstrates in his slave narrative shows that the savagery of African people exists as a misconception and makes the reader fully grasp the need to abolish slavery and any inequality present. On page seventy-eight, Equiano uses first person pronouns like 'I', 'my', and 'me' to separate himself from the other African people and whites around him. This separation that Equiano creates demonstrates his exceptionalism as an African slave.
Compare And Contrast A Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano
1515 Words | 7 PagesCould there be contrasts and likenesses between two accounts composed by two unique individuals? Confronting various types of afflictions? It is conceivable to discover contrasts and likenesses in two stories relating two various types of occasions? Imprisonment accounts were main stream with pursuers in both America and the European continents. Bondage stories of Americans relate the encounters of whites subjugated by Native Americans and Africans oppressed by early American settlers.
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1121 Words | 5 PagesIn the light of two prominent newspapers in Massachusetts during the 1760s there was a great paradox of the citizens view on freedom and slavery. To understand this paradox, the newspapers will chronologically show how the citizens of Massachusetts believed in freedom from Britain was important but neglected to give the blacks their freedom. It is important to note that every time people mentioned slavery it was not for the slaves, but the “political slavery” with Britain. Through analyzing these newspapers and reading secondary literature on these matters, one can recognize the paradox of liberty. The slave advertisements, reading Mrs. Macaulay’s History and the discrimination during the Stamp Act.
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1574 Words | 7 PagesAlexander Falconbridge served as a surgeon on the ships that transported slaves through the middle passage. He managed to only make four voyages between 1780 and 1787 due to the harsh circumstances he was witnessing, which ultimately led him to write An Account of the Middle Passage. The Middle Passage was the hardest and most dangerous part of the voyage for any slave transported out of Africa. The article carefully describes the strenuous conditions the slaves were in while being in the ships. An analysis of Alexander Falconbridge’s An Account of the Middle Passage reveals how this surgeon’s perspective aided the progression of the abolition movement by showcasing a new perspective of the Middle Passage, and how his purpose was to inform the general public on how dreadful these
Olaudah Equiano Ethos Pathos Logos
679 Words | 3 PagesFor example, when he told of his arrival in Virginia when he was the last of his group left at a plantation with no one to talk to and no way to understand those around him. To the British readers, who thrived in their own daily social interactions, the thought of such a lonely situation created feelings of pity and understanding. Equiano thought that he was “worse off than any of the rest” of his companions and “was constantly grieving and pining,” because of his loneliness. The British readers related to his emotional distress and allowed themselves to see him as a person. Therefore, they were more open to his ideas on slavery as a whole, because they could relate to Equiano's
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161 Words | 1 PagesDouglass uses paradox to demonstrate that slavery degragrates the slaverholder. When Douglass under Mr. Sever’s care he described that: “He was less cruel, less profane… He whipped, but seemed to take no pleasure in it. ”(Douglass 24). Most slaveholders are characterized to be cruel and inhuman because of the whipping and the way they treated the slaves.
How Are Equiano And Falconbridge Similar In Describing The Middle Passage
721 Words | 3 PagesName:Conor Corcoran ________________________ Equiano & Falconbridge primary source exercise 1) How are Equiano and Falconbridge similar in describing the Middle Passage? What specific examples are consistent between the two accounts? The brutally of slaves and beating up slaves. How in Equiano the author was talking about how he had never seen so much brutally and mistreatment with slaves and in Falconbridge it talks about how The traders frequently beat those slaves.
Captivity And Enslavement, By Olaudah Equiano
1405 Words | 6 Pages17.1 Captivity and Enslavement, Olaudah Equiano, the interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano written by himself 1. What are Equiano’s impressions of the white men on the ship and their treatment of the slaves? How does this treatment reflect the slave traders’ primary concerns? Equiano’s first impression of these white men is a feeling of uncertainty and sorrow for the future. As his story goes on Equiano is afraid of these white men, but also he is wishing to end it all because of the conditions and treatment of the slaves.
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753 Words | 4 PagesThrough deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion, Frederick Douglass shows the readers what negative effects slavery has on the slaveholders themselves. Douglass successfully shows that slavery makes the slaveholder bitter and brings ultimate sadness into their lives. In addressing the harmful effects of slavery on the slaveholders, he makes one reconsider their moral righteousness and better comprehend the difference between humanity and atrocity. Though there are many other ways that slavery could have been harmful to the slaveholder, Frederick Douglass has shown that these ways given were true and has proven that they were indeed negative effects on the
How Did Equiano Obtain His Freedom
151 Words | 1 PagesThroughout the book we see occasions on how Equiano was lucky such as, he was able to buy his freedom, tried to run away and was not punished, and was able to improve his education. Equiano accomplished to gain his freedom which is something that most slaves found impossible to do. One of the reasons Equiano was able to buy his freedom is because of his captain. For example “ I verily believe I should not have obtained my freedom when I did; and it not improbable that I might not have been able to get it any rate afterwards.” (The Interesting Narrative of Oladuah Equiano p.107)
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