Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Book Report

King gave Equiano permission to get his papers from the Register Office to obtain his freedom. Equiano was overcome with happiness, got his papers and hurried back to obtain King’s signature. King signed the papers and gave Equiano his freedom (Equiano, 101). Equiano wrote, “so that, before night, I who had been a slave in the morning, trembling at the will of another, now became my own master, and completely free” (Equiano, 102). Although Equiano was now free, he knew that life was harder for a free black man.

Equiano had many slave owners and two of them had a great influence in his life. Equiano had a horrible experience that he tried to end his life just to escape from being a slave. As days passed his life seemed to be getting easier. As a child Equiano and his sister where taken far away.

Equiano thought that as a slave he should not have been treated well and gotten his freedom. The reason he was very attached to his master was because his master gave him his freedom when he thought he did not deserve it because he was a

The autobiography of Olaudah Equiano, also known as Gustavus Vass, was first published in 1789. However, his exert from the narrative, “An African captive describes the middle passage” puts slave trade into perspective. This writing accounts for the horrible mistreatment of Equiano and other slaves along with him during his journey across the middle passage. “I now saw myself deprived of all chance of returning to my native country” [Document Collection 23]. Olaudah Equiano was kidnapped from his homeland in Nigeria and sold to slave traders heading west.

This 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 ...

For Equiano to be able to make the readers see the reversal of perceptions about white people, Equiano needs to separate himself and produce this sense of exceptionalism through first person pronouns. Once he establishes himself

The Desire for Freedom Mary prince had suffered from an unfortunate life, she was worked to the bone and kept like an animal, but even in her worse of times she never gave up hope. Olaudah Equiano had also suffered from slavery, but in his case it was a more fortunate one, he was more of a witness of such crimes against slaves, during the middle passage Equiano speaks of the horrors he saw, the smells, the ear wrenching cries and the overall atmosphere of the ship’s hull, where Mary herself was the one taking on the punishment for even the smallest infractions from her slave masters. When it comes to both of their stories, they both decided that they were stories that should be told, not just so they could tell it, but so people knew of such ways other

Interesting Narrative by O. Equiano gives his view as a free man, and then growing up in slave trade during this time in the European and African cultures. Equiano had hoped to give hope with his narrative, and show the reality to everyone not only his fellow Negros. Giving explicit, in-depth detail of how everything happened and how his world changed rapidly as well as everyone else involved in the Slave trade, whether being an owner, buyer, seller, or "item", everyone changed for the worse. Nothing was being done about these matters, so Equiano learned to read and write, and wrote his narrative to give a piece of history to his people and give them a meaning for all their hardships and tremendous pain while during the sixteenth and nineteenth

For 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

Both stories begin with shocking horrors, although much of Equiano’s narrative was based on these horrific scenes. Equiano’s survival of his involuntary journey to America, being enslaved as a child, and witnessing torture in Virginia, should be of aid towards the disapproval of the brutality of slavery. After buying his own freedom, Equiano became a front-runner in the abolitionist movement representing those who stood against slavery. Now in the 21st century we still fight for the freedom and self-respect we find in Equiano’s narrative. Rowlandson’s and Equiano’s narratives each represent a different characteristic of what it means to be part of the American nation.

Equiano experienced the worst situation when his sister and him were taken as slaves. He was separated from his sister after being captured, and he never had the chance to see her again after that. As slave he used other names such as Gustavus Vassa which was given by British and American masters. He used that name for his book called “Equiano’s Travels : The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African” (Perkins 162). He fought to end slavery after writing his first African-American slave narrative and autobiography.

Both Mary and Equiano suffered greatly upon their being taken. They both endured mental, physical, and emotional distress at being torn from their families and friends. Equiano was only a child when he was taken from his village, away from everything and everyone he had ever known, so the natural fear of parental separation would be terrifying in itself. Many years later, as he was being shipped overseas, he witnessed the cruel and inhumane treatment of innocent people. In describing the living conditions of the slave ship, Equiano states, “The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable” (Equiano 1279).

The first horrible act was when Equiano was kidnapped with his sister in chapter one, when “two men and a woman” (Equiano 12) stole them away and took them to the woods. Olaudah Equiano “cried and grieved continually” (Equiano 12) when he and his sister, the only family or comfort he had left was taken away from him. To think of all the children separated from their families during the slave trade, one can only imagine the heart break and emotional wreckage this caused. Another example of the horrors of slavery was in chapter three, however this example of cruelty was more physical.

17.1 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.

Slavery is a part of our nations history. Whether we want it to be or not, slavery has existed in our country with which we call free. In “Benito Cereno” by Herman Melville, slavery is present throughout the entire text. Within the text, Melville attempts to produce the message that people believe only what they wish to believe, but also addresses that freedom is not clearly free and racism and slavery shroud judgement upon not only blacks but whites as well. By making Delano such an oblivious character, Melville actually assists the reader in seeing his message of narrow mindedness of the white people.