...Juxtaposition: Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano There was a long dreadful journey that carried slaves and went from Africa to other European colonies called the Middle Passage. Two former slaves preserved through all the odds against them to become greater than just a servant. Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano were two slaves who were kidnapped from Africa at a young age. Wheatley and Equiano have similar backgrounds and many differences that are very impactful to African American history. Wheatley and Equiano both had to go through severe hardships that paved the way for others in their same position to strive better. They both phenomenal writers that were extremely impactful to everyone. Although they were both slaves they didn’t...
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...Olaudah Equiano is ex-African slave who wrote his own autobiography “The Interesting Narrative of The Life of Olaudah Equiano” in his autobiography, he says that he was born in the country of what is now Nigeria. Equiano was kidnapped and sold into slavery when he was just a child. During this time, he went through what was known as the middle passage on a slave ship bound for the New World. Equiano was then shipped to Virginia to work weeding grass and gathering stones after a short time working in Barbados. Equiano was eventually bought by a naval captain for about £40 named Gustavas Vassa. Equiano was 12 when the captain brought him to England, and While he was there he stayed at Blackheath located in London with the Guerin family who was relatives to the naval captain. While he was there...
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...Olaudah Equiano Olaudah Equiano was born in the Eboe province in Africa, which is in southern Nigeria today, in 1745. He was the son of an African chief. At the age of 11, he and his sister were captured by slavers and put on a ship to experience the horrors of the Middle Passage. He was served under various masters until, with enough money, purchased his freedom in 1766. During a visit to London, he became involved with an abolitionist movement. He petitioned to the Queen in 1788 and even wrote an autobiography called: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. 10 years after his death, slavery was abolished in Great Britain. Although Equiano did not live to see these events, his actions as an abolitionist played an important part in bringing them about. In the mid to late 18th century, Olaudah Equiano was an outstanding example of courage and perseverance through his experiences as a slave, his societal class, and his religion. Equiano was captured at an early age in his homeland and shipped across the Atlantic to Barbados and then Virginia. He was then quickly purchased by a Royal Navy officer, Lieutenant Michael Pascal, who renamed him 'Gustavus Vassa' after the 16th-century Swedish king. Equiano wished, as any slave of that day, to be freed. Unfortunately, Pascal learning of Equiano's desire, and cruelly sold him...
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...Olaudah Equiano was taken by force at the age of eleven from his West African village of Benin. He was then put on a ship to travel through the rough “Middle Passage” of the Atlantic Ocean to become a slave in the West Indies. In the West Indies (Barbados) he was put up for sale to work in the sugar plantations. Then in 1766, he was sold to a Virginian farmer to be a slave there. He was a slave in North America for ten years, and then he was allowed to buy his freedom. He left North American and went to Great Britain. In Great Britain he worked as a barber and became an abolish nest. He spoke out against slavery and in 1789 wrote a book about his life called “The Interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African”,...
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...Bibliography: Olaudah Equiano
Imbarrato, Susan Clair. "Equiano, Olaudah." Infobase Learning - Login. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Web. 22 Sept. 2014.
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...authoritative description of the villainous Middle Passage, one of the very first narratives from a slave, a story that gave the hatchling abolitionist movement a buzzing moral influence; except it may not be exact. Therein lays the mystery: Because if the gentleman who penned "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African" was not born in Africa, but rather born into slavery in South Carolina -- as Vincent Carretta suggests -- then who was he? Where did he learn to speak fluent Igbo? And how did he obtain such agonizing details about life aboard an 18th-century slave vessel? The air soon became unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died, thus falling victims to the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of their purchasers. This wretched situation was again aggravated by the galling of the chains. . . . The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable. (Equiano, 1789) In that lies the controversy: Carretta's findings, detailed in his biography of Equiano, have ignited a blaze in academic life, for the most part among those who have extensively considered Equiano the "black Ben Franklin" all on the weight of his auto biography. Given that Equiano's was in print first, Carretta argues that Franklin should be called the "White Equiano." No one questions that Equiano was the ultimate self-made man, cultured...
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...Olaudah Equiano, was a former enslaved African, seaman and merchant who wrote an autobiography depicting the horrors of slavery and lobbied Parliament for its abolition. In his biography, he records he was born in what is now Nigeria, kidnapped and sold into slavery as a child. He then endured the middle passage on a slave ship bound for the New World. After a short period of time in Barbados, Equiano was shipped to Virginia and put to work weeding grass and gathering stones. In 1757, he was bought by a naval captain (Captain Pascal) for about £40, who named him Gustavas Vassa. Equiano was about 12 when he first arrived in England. For part of that time he stayed at Blackheath in London with the Guerin family (relatives of Pascal). It...
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...Triangular Trade. Once the slaves arrived in America, life was difficult. Former slave Olaudah Equiano, explains a little about their life once they reached America. Life on the ships was poor and not easy. Slaves spent several months on these ships at a time. This caused sicknesses, even multiple deaths. Not only was the physical health on these ships poor, but so was the mental health from the abuse. Women and children were kept in different parts of the ships, which were extremely crowded and exposed the women to sexual abuse. Air quality was very low, and the heat was extreme. The slaves were fed twice a day, and some of them were force- fed. Once the slaves died, they were thrown overboard in the water. One in every 5 Africans died on the ship because of these terrible conditions. Because of this, the British and the French created a law called the Code Noir. The Code Noir forced...
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...The Middle Passage was a dark stage of history in which Africans were sent on vessels to America as part of the slave trade. Two particular slaves used these dreadful times to their advantage. Putting their experiences into writing, Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano wrote tremendously successful literary pieces that shaped the abolition movement. In both Equiano’s narrative and Wheatley’s book of poems, they reflect the similar experience of slavery, which greatly shapes the purpose and style of the author’s pieces. Much like Equiano, Phillis Wheatley was born in an African village. The only good memory recalled of her life in Africa was of her mother performing daily rituals to the rising sun in the mornings. She had the advantage of being purchased by Christian missionaries who were very kind to her. Her owners taught her to read and write, which led her to be the first African American woman to be published as a poet. It also caused her writing to be much more classical with a discreet sense of emotion. She used many allusions and...
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...He first describes his confusion and his immediate terror as he was thrown on the ship. He explains how the white men treat them, as if they were savage. He also tells about how they are chained together and beaten. As the journey continues Equiano tells of how the slaves are kept in close quarters under the ship. Because of the lack of sanitation and the fact that the slaves are bound together, many of them become sick and ill. The stench of the sick and dying fills the ship. Many of the slaves wish to commit suicide; However the white men on the ship make this very hard to do. When Olaudah Equiano arrives in Barbados he explains how each one of the captives are examined and asked to perform various different tasks. Once the examination was complete the slaves were then sent to an auction where they were to be sold to their new owner, as if they were property. Many friends, and families were separated from one another during this...
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...Perseverance It was no secret the sufferings and renderings many slaves had came across during “The Middle Passage”; it wasn’t just torture and pain but most of all self discovery of their new reality. Despite from Equiano has known from his childhood in his homeland, it was a constant battle of the acceptance, exploration, and assessment new ideas or concepts into his new destined reality. In this passage, the floods of new traditions, cultures, languages, beliefs, and customs was permeating the through the soul of Equiano. However, through the good and the bad, Equiano even at his lowest never gave up on faith. Olaudan Equiano has always made faith the foundation of his acceptance of European religion/customs while also getting maintaining self righteous individuality. To truly understand the battle of individuality and beliefs Equiano felt during his lifetime, one must be familiar with his childhood. Equiano explained that the natives in his tribe already believe in one Creator and have accepted the fact the he governs events and also the concept of eternity or “afterlife” reflect upon his actions. The idea of faith and destiny was greatly rooted in Equiano, that the minute they captured Equiano and his sister away from his family he already knew this was his destiny for he mentioned “ but alas! Ere long it was my fate to be thus attacked, to be carried off” (Equiano, 1999). Equiano depended much on his faith for God even surrounded by different customs and overbearing of sadness...
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...Donahue1 Bennett Donahue Mr. McElrath English III Honors 05 September 2014 A Trustworthy Puritan Although De Vaca, Equiano, and Smith were all brave and courageous men, William Bradford, the puritan for the historical narrative “Of Plymouth Plantation,” reveals himself to be most reliable and trustworthy. Bradford demonstrates that he is a strong believer in God, and a selfless leader among men by using emotional diction, biblical allusions, and his religiously based figurative language in order to show his tremendous leadership and his unbreakable loyalty to God and his men. Right off the bat, there is Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca. Yes, long name, but with that long name comes a long, perilous voyage that gambled his life at numerous occasions. De Vaca’s ship would have been the last place on earth that you would have wanted to be. De Vaca portrays himself as the leader of the ship, which he very well was, but he talks in a selfish way as if he was the strongest member on the ship. He writes, “When night fell, only the navigator and I remained able to tend to the barge,” he seems to recall moments only when he was the strong one to survive, or how he was able to brave through the hardships that he met(De Vaca 74). Now, De Vaca was a religious man. He praised god and mentioned that the reason why his barge was still afloat was due to the grace of god. Although he does mention god, he doesn't write like William Bradford, for example he refrains from saying that ...
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...brought our country to what it is today is long and complex, and it took centuries of battles and resistance. The transatlantic slave trade had a large impact and transported millions of African slaves to America to work on plantations. Slavery continued to expand into southern and northern states. This ties into the Middle Passage, which was a connected event that involved the transportation of slaves from Africa to a port in the Americas. The Slave Ship Brookes was designed to fit 454 enslaved people but reportedly carried 609 enslaved people. On the transportation ships, slaves were beaten, raped, there were no bathrooms, and even led to people throwing themselves off the ship to end their misery. Week 4 Day 1 ppt Olaudah Equiano talks about his personal experience on the Middle Passage and how truly insufferable it was. He explains how many slaves died from the unbearable stench, heat, and sickness and others died from chains, filth, and hunger. This emphasizes the torturous environments the slaves were forced into and hearing the personal stories from Equiano is even more disturbing. (American Yawp Chapter 3 Section 1, Olaudah Equiano describes the Middle Passage) There was also “an act for better ordering of Negroes and other slaves in this province” that was passed in South Carolina and other colonies. (Week 4 Day 2 ppt) This made it illegal for slaves to learn how to read, travel away from their home without a pass, purchase liquor, and to carry guns. This further dehumanizes...
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...The idea of seeking oppurtunity being upheld by the masses was problematic for planters when it came to finding cheap laborers for their plantations. Slavery, of course, had already existed in the colonies but due to this new shortage of labor it truly took off and expanded. Rich plantation owners would buy slaves to man their fields and from this they amassed more wealth mainly because they did not have to give wages to their slaves. These slaves were mainly purchased off of slave traders who would travel with the slaves as cargo across the Middle Passage. The main source of these slaves were from West African countries/areas such as Angola, Loango, the Gold Coast, the Windward Coast, Sierra Leone, Senegambia, and Arguin (Fig. 4.1; Doc....
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...Desperate Acts of Blacks as they Perseverated on Freedom 1877-Civil War Rolanda E. Lively African American History, CRN 32427 Tues-Thurs Ms. Carmen Thompson August 4, 2011 African Americans perseverated on freedom! As we explore the lives of African-Americans and their experience in the place we now call the United States of America, we will see how black people perseverated on freedom and risked their lives for freedom during the following significant historical periods; Horrifying middle passage of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, Religious Great Awakening 129, and lastly the Bloody Antebellum period. The past comes back to life, through first person quotes of courageous men and women who bared their souls. We all bare witness to voices of African American Hero’s each one never shifting their gaze from the golden gates of freedom. One of the first times that we see the preservation on freedom is during the middle passage of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The middle passage is steeped in unimaginable inhumane atrocities that no person or living thing should ever endure. For many, death and suicide became viable options for freedom in the face of captivity and the unknown. The planks of the slave ships hemorrhage with the blood, flesh, tears, and screams from Africans, who endure the torture bestowed on them by the slave ship crew. Africans of all ages were shackled and packed into the belly of the massive ships, with cramped and restrictive quarters, with not...
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