Oroonoko, By Aphra Behn

Throughout the colonial period and the time leading up to the American civil war, one of the most important and controversial topics facing Americans was the idea of slavery. The notion of slavery is an odd and incredibly horrifying concept, that one man can own another man, or two men, or an entire family, just because of the color of their skin. No doubt the idea was racist and repulsive, but to many Men and Women in history, across the country and across the world, slavery was just a part of everyday life: they knew no different. So when those people who were being stripped from their homeland and brought over on ships to be sold at auction to the highest white bidder, began to question the sacredness of this terrible

Throughout history, slaves have been treated like animals and thought of as property, not human beings. Even Oroonoko, a handsome, statuesque prince is turned into a slave because of his race, and is degraded and mistreated. To racist slave owners, the horrible treatment of Africans was acceptable because they were a different species, and no amount of education or beauty could save them. Behn shows how unjust and brutal slavery is in Oroonoko. The treatment of slaves is comparable to the treatment of the poor, as both have few rights, and both are unjustly judged and mistreated based on social status.

Slavery was a dark time in America’s past. Not only did slavery separate millions of families, it destroyed the white man’s reputation to African people. Many slave owners treated their slaves well, many did not. They forced their slaves to live in deplorable conditions. Malnutrition and overworking often led to death. If you were a slave, would you risk it all and try to run away? You might not have a choice if you wanted to stay alive.

The issue of slavery has been in infamous part of American history since it first started in the 1600’s in Jamestown, Virginia. During the colonial era, white male landowners needed help on their land taking care of crops, so they would purchase the African slaves after they arrived by boat and have them work the land as well as other tasks that needed to be done such as tending to

Slavery existed since the beginning of the United States’s time but was practiced long before in Western Africa. Slaves were important to the country’s economy and agriculture since they were based off of slave trade and plantations they worked in. After a few years, slavery demands and its population declined but after the invention of the cotton gin, demands went up again. They had to work harder than before and more Africans were sold off to white plantation owners. Although slaves had hard daily lives, were mistreated, and discriminated, they still refused to believe that there was no chance for them and instead rebelled for their freedom.

“Knowledge can never imprison you, but you can be captive to your ignorance.” (Quotes 2). Slavery was a terrible time in our country when people were brought against their will in the hulls of ships, herded like cattle into tight, damp quarters for weeks for what was often a deadly voyage. Upon arrival into the United States these people were sold and treated like property instead of the people that they were. It would not be until January 1, 1863, when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by Abraham Lincoln, that slaves would begin the long and enduring journey to freedom and having rights like the whites.

Slavery stretches its cruel branches into decades of history. According to the American Anti-slavery and Civil Rights Timeline on Ushistory.org, the portuguese were the first to negotiate a slave trade in 1472. The portuguese slave trade agreement also included ivory and gold as well as slaves. In 1610, the first ship carrying slaves touched down in the new world. Four years after that the British Colony of Massachusetts became the first colony to recognize slavery as a legal institution. For as long as slavery has been a legal institution abolitionists have been advocating for the freedom and rights of slaves. In 1671 George Fox, the founder of the quakers, talked out against the institution of slavery in the new world. In 1861 America ripped itself apart fighting a war, known as the American Civil War, that would ultimately abolish slavery in the United States of America. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was written and published after the end of the civil war, but is set forty to fifty years before the beginning of the civil war. At this time it was socially acceptable to own slaves, especially in the south where Huckleberry Finn lives. It was not uncommon for slaves to be beaten or whipped if their work was unsatisfactory. Slaves were treated as people without rights and property to their white owners. Today the transatlantic slave trade has left its mark on America. There are still white supremacist groups, like the KKK, who believe that they are the superior race and black people should be eradicated. Racial profiling of black people has been an increasing issue to. Black people are getting killed and sent to jail for crimes that if a white person were to commit, the white person would receive a lesser sentence. Today racism is still running rampant in America.

Slavery was a central institution in American society during the late eighteenth century, and was accepted as normal and applauded as a positive thing by many white Americans. In the 1770’s, there were approximately 400,000 blacks in the Southern colonies and 50,000 in the Northern colonies. Slaves were central to the operation of the colonies, especially in the South where they were a crucial element of the labour force. They were treated as inferiors, but living alongside whites, and essential as an exploited labouring class. On one hand, people were advocating liberty from slavery, while at the same time relying on slaves to drive the economy.

In American history, every event and person plays a part in the future. For example, rich plantation owners helped America advance their economy. However, that would not have been at all possible without the help of their slaves. The time and institution of slavery is a time of historical remembrance. It played a primary role during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. The treatment, labor conditions, and personal stories of these slaves’ treatment and labor conditions are all widely discussed around the world to this day.

Slavery, especially in America, has been an age old topic of riveting discussions. Specialist and other researchers have been digging around for countless years looking for answers to the many questions that such an activity provided. They have looked into the economics of slavery, slave demography, slave culture, slave treatment, and slave-owner ideology (p. ix). Despite slavery being a global issue, the main focus is always on American slavery. Peter Kolchin effectively illustrates in his book, American Slavery how slavery evolved alongside of historical controversy, the slave-owner relationship, how slavery changed over time, and how America compared to other slave nations around the world.

The controversies surrounding slavery have been established in many societies worldwide for centuries. In past generations, although slavery did exists and was tolerated, it was certainly very questionable,” ethically“. Today, the morality of such an act would not only be unimaginable, but would also be morally wrong. As things change over the course of history we seek to not only explain why things happen, but as well to understand why they do. For this reason, we will look further into how slavery has evolved throughout History in American society, as well as the impacts that it has had.

Even though the slavery was introduced in the early 1600s, it had no doubt that the abolitionist inaugurated the movements about the slavery actively from early 1850s. The slavery became the essential part of industry in the South more than in the North because of the large plantations and slave trades. So in the Southerners’ perspective, the slave flourished the businesses with their inexpensive labor forces in order to profit; they argued slaves were by and large a culturally inferior, child-like people who were treated well by whites and thus content with their status in life. However, Uncle Tom’s Cabin described the slavery as an evil institution that must be abolished accurately from the historians today.

Aphra Behn, since the start of story Oroonoko takes on an apologetic tone in her narration of the story. She starts of by apologizing (examples) as to the form of her writing and why she writes some parts of the story while omitting others. It is not fully understood whether when Behn refers to being “a female pen” she does so in a sarcastic way or with a deeper meaning, giving a double sense to her story. That although she writes about a male character, she decides to write and exalt those parts of his life that were influenced by a woman, making them as something as a very meaningful part of his story that influenced his actions, exalting the role of a woman in this great man’s life.

Aphra Behn’s novel, Oroonoko, gives a very different perspective on a slave narrative. Her characters embody various characteristics not usually given to those genders and races. Imoinda’s character represents both the modern feminist, as well as the subservient and mental characteristics of the typical eighteenth-century English woman. Oroonoko becomes an embodiment of what is normally a white man’s characteristic; he is the noble, princely, and sympathetic character that is not usually attributed to black men in general throughout most novels of slavery. The complete opposite character style is given to the slavers; the English are viewed as the barbaric, cunning, brutal characters that are usually portrayed in opposite and more generous

Oroonoko is a novel by author Aphra Behn, in which Behn tried to illustrate the life of the African Prince, who was captured and made slave, Oroonoko. Behn offers criticism for the cruelest of Europeans, while still holding a bias against people of color. She ignores self-identity while focusing on the exotic other that fills the pages of her book. Though she tries to make the African character relatable, she maintains her sense of European superiority. She also portrays a somewhat accurate depiction of slavery and the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Finally she often relates religion and Christianity the lack of society and civilization or barbarianism. This work will prove the themes of otherness, European superiority, slavery and the slave trade, and religion as it relates to barbarianism.