John Sutter's 2012 Report: Slavery in Mauritania

Within this review of Gomez’s work is a comparison of the “truth” I knew and the “truth” I now know. Upon completing Reversing Sail, I argued with my own thoughts regarding Africans and their status prior, and post, enslavement.

The Interesting Narrative conveys the first-hand experiences of an African who is stripped of the basic rights given to humans and is forced into slavery, while at the same this individual fights for freedom. This autobiography is a reliable source for historians, educators, and students. After analyzing the literature, I concluded that the autobiography’s main criteria included content, tone, perspective, and the structure of his writing. The authors ability to manipulate this criterion, allows for the successful creation of an environment that builds a connection between the audience and his journey.

In this essay, Stampp argues that slaves are the victims to a cruel system designed to take advantage of them. He fights for the sides of the slaves, portraying them as helpless in a world of pain and suffering. To prove this he looks toward the slaves who fake injury, ignorance, and even pregnancy to avoid having to work. This “preoccupation of bondsmen” as Stampp says, was a “Striking refutation of the myth that slavery survived because of the cheerful acquiescence of the slaves.” (Stampp 301) In this essay, Stampp is standing up against the idea that slaves are weak and incapable of functioning as free men. People said that the slaves had accepted their fate as slaves and were alright with it, but Stampp says they have not given up their will to fight for their freedom and that their rights as people will come. Stampp’s portrayal of slaves as the victim is in direct alignment with the shooting of Michael Brown in which Michael was made the victim far before anyone knew what really happened. The slaves that Stampp writes about all are sad and distraught but it’s possible that there may have been slaves who were in fact not too unhappy with their lives. In this instance, there is only one point of view, so another document with the counter to Stampp’s must be examined as

This paper is divided in two sections. The first section observes the author’s vivid presentation of the slave-master psyche and relationship from the 17th to 19th century America. The second section examines the author’s choice of method in narration - how, apart from quoting statistics,

Written unlike other academic articles, Donovan presents his information in such a manner that distances himself from the content; rather, instead of focusing on one aspect, creating an argument and stating a clear thesis, the author positions himself as someone stating facts, without a personal opinion at all. However, this is could not be further from the truth. The positioning of the material in this article suggests that the negative aspects of slave life are trying to be overshadowed. In other words, the author positions any negative aspects in the middle of the paper, while emphasizing the positive parts of the slaves’ lives where the reader is more likely to see, the beginning, and the conclusion. I hope to show that, contrary to Donovan’s position of positivism, the lives of slaves on Ile Royale were anything but fulfilling.

My paper is an attempt to analyze the entire era of slavery and its later effects upon the lives of Africans who were brought forcefully to America as slaves and even after its abolition were treated inhumanly. My major attempt is to get an in depth insight of the struggles of these people for their survival in such an environment and the predicament of black women who were doubly oppressed; were the victims of both the whites and black men; and treated as naked savages and beasts, with Alice Walker’ masterpiece and Pulitzer prize winning The Color Purple. I have taken this project with my keen interest because the novel touched me deeply and I wanted to analyze it thoroughly.

In this paper, I will be comparing two stories that dealt with slavery. The two stories are "From the Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, written by Himself" by Olaudah Equiano and "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave" by Frederick Douglass. I will be able to accomplish this by comparing the two authors and their way of life as a slave.

‘No one in the novel can actually be seen as a hero.’ To what extent do you agree?

Following the initial summaries of pre-colonial African history, the cruel realities of the African Slave Trade was represented by a pair of shackles and a yoke, both used to prevent escape by captives. Next to the artifacts was a life-like setting of a slave roped to a tree, forcing one to think about brutal realities of slavery. Further in the exhibit,

Currently, the United States has no policies toward stopping the slavery in Mauritania. The Mauritanian slavery is considered a minor issue to the American government (Jourde, 2007). Although the slavery continues, the United States aids in the financial, military and moral needs of Mauritania. The United States continues its funding because the leaders of Mauritania claims that slavery is not practiced (McDougall, 2005). The Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement, IRA, is working to help the enslaved Mauritanians to gain a life outside of slavery. The IRA is also working on enforcing the laws stated in Mauritania’s Constitution. Their main focus is the free the slaves and imprisons the slave owners (“Freedom Fighter,”

The captivity narrative and the slave narrative are two types of literary works, which were very common during the 17th and the 18th century. The captivity narrative usually involves an innocent white woman who is taken captive by an Indian tribe, who the woman describes as savages in most of the cases. On the other hand, the slave narrative focuses on the quality of life that slaves were facing before the time of the abolishment of slavery. Although the captivity narrative and the slave narrative show some similarities, they are completely different. We can observe the differences by analyzing two literary works, A Narrative of The Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson by Mary Rowlandson and From The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African, Written by Himself by Olaudah Equiano. A Narrative of The Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson is a narrative written by Mary Rowlandson herself, which sheds light on her own experiences revolving captivity. The Interesting Narrative of The Life of Olaudah Equiano gives the reader insight into the life of a slave, the treatments they endure, and usually their freedom, whether it be through escaping or other means. Both narratives usually include real-life accounts, however, the differences lie in the structure of the narrative, the purpose that the narrative is trying to lay out and the treatment of the parties who are living these experiences.

They begged for freedom and went through physical and mental abuse, ¨The slave owner profaned the Portuguese word for black, “Negro,” and made it “Nigger.” It was brutal, violent word that stung the soul of the slave more than the whip.” (To Be A Slave). This showed abuse, stress and more of what the slaves experienced. Slaves went through the heaviness pain other people put them through, so they could have a little faith they will be free again.

The narrative by Olaudah Equiano gives an interesting perspective of slavery both within and outside of Africa in the eighteenth century. From these writings we can gain insight into the religion and customs of an African culture. We can also see how developed the system of trade was within Africa, and worldwide by this time. Finally, we hear an insider's view on being enslaved, how slaves were treated in Africa, and what the treatment of African slaves was like at the hands of the Europeans.

This essay will attempt to describe the modalities and consequences of the abolition of the slave trade in early nineteenth century West Africa. We now live in a world where slavery is considered not to be morale since it was abolished however cases of slavery still exist today but are hidden from the public eye so well that no one even knows the exist. Forcing someone to perform various duties like cleaning without any form of payment against their will is considered to be a form of slavery and anyone found to be having slaves or holding anyone against their will these days is punished and possibly sentenced to jail for a very long period of time. We are in the 21st century and slavery is something that is not accepted by

All these horrific visions illustrated and the bitter, harsh words of truth leave an undying, unbelievable and undeniable impact on the reader. The words pierce through our ears, almost allowing us to feel the pain. It arouses a number of questions in our minds especially due to the irony, and great sympathy for the Africans. Yet, the young adults are only ‘more and more quiet’ and ‘more and more angry.’ By these repeated comparatives, the writer contrasts their present feeling of resentment to their mood of celebration earlier. All the words are slowly seeping in but it only made them rather ‘cross’ as they thought the chief was being selfish and ‘ignorant,’ in his ‘abusive comments,’ since he was not noticing the positive side – the whites brought them ‘value of the education’ and the moral cultures and etiquettes taught by them. Their tender age has almost blinded them to the ‘oppressor’ behind what they think is the ‘benefactor.’ In all, the only thing the chief ended up doing was ‘spoiling the proud feelings with wrong headed remarks,’ for the teenagers.