Essay On The Middle Passage By Olaudah Equiano

“The Horrors of a Slave Ship,” describes in detail, the tragic experiences of Olaudah Equiano as a captive slave. Equiano suffered many sleepless nights; he was flogged and kidnapped multiple times. In the article, the author is trying to give the reader the feeling by giving details of the brutally floggings and desperation as many slaves suffocated to death as they were placed in an overcrowded deck. Overall, the author tries to give readers their point across of the difficulties in being a captive slave.

"I believe there are few events in my life which have not happened to many; it is true the incidents of it are numerous, and, did I consider myself an European, I might say my sufferings were great; but when I compare my lot with that of most of my countrymen, I regard myself as a particular favorite of heaven, and acknowledge the mercies of Providence in every occurrence of my life." Olaudah Equiano lived the life as a slave like many black people of the 18th century. He was born free but soon was forced into slavery which took him all around the world. From his accounts he has written down, he shows his life as a slave. Equiano had been bought and sold throughout the Americas and Europe; he showed the

Olaudah Equiano vividly recounts the shock and isolation that he felt during the Middle Passage to Barbados and his fear that the European slavers would eat him.

Some Africans did not go without putting up a fight. For instance, Captain Tomba led many villagers “in burning huts and killing neighbors who cooperated with slave traders” (14). He was later captured and sent to the slave ship where he would be sold in the New World. The slaves also resisted by refusing to eat. Most of them decided they would rather have death than to live the lifestyle on the slave ships. The captains punished those who refused to eat by giving them lashes to the bare skin until they decided to eat. Olaudah Equiano could be considered one of the more fortunate Africans involved in the slave trade. Rediker uses Equiano to show how Africans were kidnapped and brought to the slave ship. Equiano was home alone with his sister when he was snatched by a neighboring enemy tribe. Tribes were kidnapping each other to sell to the slave traders for goods and even weapons. Equiano was separated from his sister and sold off to merchants before actually boarding the slave ship. He mentioned several times how he would rather die than be on the slave ship. He noticed right away that “the slave ship was equipped with nettings to prevent precisely such desperate rebellion” (109). Equiano went to the Americas and was left alone when none of the merchants purchased him. He was sold to a captain and boarded his ship back to England. On this slave ship, he was treated much better. He got to stay on the deck and eat better food than he had

Equiano was able to utilize his life experiences and expose the true story behind a slaves journey (from the capturing to the day the slave is placed with an owner), which allowed him to be an influential opponent against the enslavement of Africans. Equiano stated that, “[t]ourtures, murder, and every other imaginable barbarity and iniquity are practiced

In this, however, it depicts the complex journey of the African slaves that struggled to become equal. In addition, Equiano’s use of imagery clearly depicts the journey of the Africans slaves, such as “The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us" (45). Through the portrayal of this vivid imagery, the reader can feel the distress of the slaves in which they encountered the journey of the “Middle Passage.” He emphasizes his emotions, ideals, and thoughts through the imagery. With the uses of this vivid imagery along with high diction and intricate sentences, Equiano successfully attempts to inform the reader of the horrid journey of slave transportation. However, it is not only his unique style alone that fulfils his rhetorical purpose of depicting the appalling slave experience; in addition, his several rhetorical devices aid to do so.

Another individual, Olaudah Equiano, was captured in Nigeria. He was taken by ship across the Middle Passage. Once he was put aboard the ship, the crew roughed him up some in order to test his fortitude. Having looked around his situation, he noticed the other slaves were very dejected. He passed out and awoke with members of the party that had sold him around him. He was afraid he was being sold to be eaten, but was assured he was not. He was led to the lower decks of the ship. The stench and disgust of the area were more than he could take. Olaudah became depressed and fell very sick. He often wished that death would come and take him. Once the cargo ship was fully loaded, the space was exceedingly limited. He was beaten for not eating and whipped hourly. After finding some of his own nation, he was told that they were being taken to a white man’s country to work. This was some relief to him. He soon became so weak that he was brought to the deck and allowed to stay there. This was a minor relief as he had to witness those that were brought form below at near death. During a period of calm seas, several slaves successfully jumped ship. The crew was quick to react and made all slaves go below deck. After stopping the ship setting about a

One of the most interesting arguments that modern apologists makes for the practice of race-based slavery in the Americas is the fact that slavery existed in Africa during that time period and that Africans were complicit in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. What is fascinating about Olaudah Equiano's discussion of the Middle Passage is that, as a man who had been enslaved in Africa prior to being shipped as a slave to the Americas, he was in a unique position to describe slavery in Africa with his introduction to European-influenced slavery in North America. His perception was that the immense brutality of the Middle Passage foreshadowed the dehumanization of slaves in the Americas, which was more inhumane than the treatment he had received as a slave while in Africa. Furthermore, he did not suggest that this brutality was linked to the race of the traders, though that seemed to have been his initial impression, but to the nature of the Trans-Atlantic trade. Therefore, Equiano's writings suggest that shipping Africans across the ocean for slavery was part of the dehumanizing process that helped fuel the practice of slavery in America.

Olaudah Equiano’s “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavas Vassa, the African” was first published in 1789 in London, England (687). Equiano’s narrative is informative; however, it is critical of the treatment of slaves and persuasive in its appeals to end the brutal treatment of African Americans. His intended audience was his friends and the public. Regarding the purpose of his narrative, Equiano wrote in Chapter I, “If it affords any satisfaction to my numerous friends … or in the smallest degree promotes the interests of humanity, the ends for which it was undertaken will be fully attained” (688). His narrative also offered a first-hand (first-person narrative) account of slavery and shared the story of his journey towards freedom. Equiano’s narrative is in chronological order after a brief introduction in Chapter I, which explained his purpose for writing his story along with providing background information on his childhood and the culture of his birthplace in Essaka, Africa. Furthermore, although much of Equiano’s story centered on his extensive sea travel, his harmonious mixture of formal and informal word choices along with the lack of the technical terminology commonly associated with sailors helps the general audience

As stated in The Classic Slave Narratives: The Life of Gustavus Vassa, a sense of bewilderment and fright was his first response upon arriving at the coast. "the first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived…a slave ship, these filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted in to terror" (Vassa 57). Comparative to the area Equiano grew up in during his time as a child in Africa, the Europeans were far more technologically advanced, upon seeing ships for the first time he and other slaves agreed that it was magic that drove them due to a lack of understanding. The new world that was emerging around him became hard for him to explain. He and his fellow slaves rationalized the situation by stating that the westerners were spirits and that they possessed magic "there was cloth put upon the…and then the vessel went on; and the white men had some spell or magic they put in the water, when they liked, in order to stop the vessel" (Vassa 59). The traumatizing experience that was boarding a slave ship was almost surreal for Equiano and with his young age so to rationalize the situation he and his fellow slaves concluded that the men handling them could not be human because they were so different. "when I was carried on board. I was immediately handled and… I was now persuaded that I had gotten into a world of bad spirits, and that they were going to kill me"

Being taken away from his sister, Equiano not only was grieving, but he was put aboard a ship where he had no idea what was coming next. When he was first carried onto the boats his first thoughts were “that I had gotten into a world of bad spirits, and that they were going to kill me.” After this thought, he had fainted for being only a mere child scared for his life. He believed that these people with a lighter complexion were going to eventually eat him. Once he was told of his true purpose on board the ship, his mind came to ease. Before even setting sail for the west indies, he was experience the

The Middle Passage was a triangular route that was frequently used by many European nations who engaged in the Atlantic slave trade of millions of Africans. One such African slave was a man by the name of Olaudah Equiano, who 's autobiography spoke of the mortality rate on slave ships, what he and his fellow slaves thought of their European captors, and what their captors thought of them.

Olaudah Equiano had a very unique experience with the slave trade system. He began conveying his experience with how he was captured in his village by two men and a women, who kidnapped him and his sister. Their captors traveled with them for a few days before separating the siblings, and selling Equiano to his first master. He was treated fairly well, even when he ran away for a day and came back, he says his master “having slightly reprimanded me, ordered me to be taken care of, and not ill-treated.” (Equiano 27) Shortly after this engagement, Equiano’s master loses his wife and child and sends Equiano away to be sold again. He even gets to see his sister one last time before, again, they are separated.

Equiano, on a slave ship towards the West Indies, was on the verge of everlasting bondage. “In this manner we continued to undergo more hardships than I can now relate, hardships which are inseparable from this accursed trade. Many a time we were near suffocation from the want of fresh air, which was often without for whole days together.” (57) The conditions for slaves on these transport ships was horrendous, as those in charge cared little for the well being of these Africans. Equiano was unaware of what was to come, and fear lingered in his memory of this unforgiving experience. He explains the process of the transaction, “We were not many days in the merchant’s custody, before we were sold after their usual manner, which was: On a signal given (as the beat of a drum), the buyers rush at once into the yard where the slaves are confined, and make choice of that parcel they like best.” (58)

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.