The First Deception Of Slavery By Olaudah Equiano

Although Olaudah Equiano was not directly involved in American slavery, several aspects of The Life of Olaudah Equiano can be used to understand why the institution lasted so long. A major part of the novel was dedicated to counter one of the major propagating ideas of slavery: the widespread myth that Africans were either not fully human or were of a less developed branch of humanity so enslaving them was moral. Equiano spends the first section of the book

One example of a black individual who was a significant influence on the abolitionist movement was Olaudah Equiano (also known as Gustavus Vassa) a freed slave that spoke about his terrifying life story which helped contribute towards the end of the slave trade. Equiano was born in 1736 and bought his freedom as a slave in 1767. Equiano began his involvement in the abolitionist movement in the 1780’s when he published his best-selling book ‘The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African’ in 1789. At the time, many Britons thought Africans were illiterate but Equiano proved them wrong as he could ‘wield the English language well’ and learnt several skills whilst still a slave. Furthermore, his book

"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

Equiano, one moment was free and the next was being kidnapped and taken into this world where he felt he did not belong. Slavery is something that now is thought about in hate and disgust, but was the “it thing” back in the 1800s. Equiano started his slave life in Africa, however the difference between his experiences throughout Africa and his experiences through the New World are completely different. Equiano was young when he was kidnapped, therefore he started his slave life has a young man who had years of slavery ahead of him.

Getting slaves to the coast was not a streamlined process. The commodities involved in trade on the Atlantic market changed over a few centuries. The peak demand for slaves, at the turn of the nineteenth century, caused an influx of commercial opportunities for slave traders within Africa. At this time the Atlantic slave trade, for Africans, became more than just an outlet for making profit on war prisoners, who by tradition, before the arrival of Europeans, would have just been killed. The Atlantic Slave trade became an outlet for the strengthening of political power. Anyone who had a subordinate was likely to take advantage of the Atlantic market, often times sending their own family or kin to the coasts in exchange for goods and political gains. With the use of deception, families and spouses were able to sell off their own in order to reach their own goals, all at the price of the imprisoned slaves mental state. The use of deception in the slave trade amongst families and tribes is the first step in the commodification of slaves. The use of deception and kidnapping played a role in the complete alienation of captured slaves leading to this idea of the slaves experiencing a complete “social death”.

Olaudah Equiano on the other hand, is more experienced than Candide because he actually experienced a very slim amount of slavery in his native land, and was also taken at a young age and witnessed cruelty for the first time on the ship to the West Indies. As he says, “The white people looked and acted in so savage a manner; for I had never seen among any people such instances of brutal cruelty; and this is not only shown towards us blacks, but also to some of the whites as well.” While noble aristocrats in Westphalia raise Candide, he actually knows nothing about the outside world (besides what he learns from Pangloss). When Cacambo asks him what is human reason, Candide replies in Chapter 19, "Alas, it's a mania for insisting that everything

Olaudah Equiano was African man who was taken, along with many other black people from their home country. They were taken aboard a ship and were put in chains under the deck, where the conditions were substandard. They were forced into confined spaces where it became impossible to breath from the stench of their unhygienic living situation. When any of the prisoners were disobedient or did something not to their liking, they were whipped severely. The Africans were sometimes let up on the deck, mostly when they became to sick to be under the deck but they were watched very closely as to make sure that they would not throw themselves in the water, witch says a great deal about the living conditions they had.

Once stated from Khalil Gibran “ History does not repeat itself except in the minds of those who do not know history.” Enslavement is a frightening topic that should not be forgotten or continued. It has roughly was in our country for 246 years. Although Gary Paulsen’s novel, Nightjohn, is considered historical fiction, the descriptions of inhuman punishments, harsh restrictions, and broken families can be validated with multiple sources,

The autobiography of Olaudo Equiano outlines the brutality and exploitations that the slaves faced during the slave trade. He believes that labor exploitation is incompatible with respect to capitalism, religious beliefs of equality and a society that only brings out inhumanity. However, there were some people during the eighteenth century who did not oppose the slavery trade because according to them, slavery trade was much more profitable than the wage labor and also a way for the whites to demonstrate their superiority.

he body shaking, eye opening, and terrifying story written by Olaudah Equiano shows us the dark times of slavery through a first person view, deep description, and critical choice of words.

Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative depicts one man’s journey of being enslaved to finally obtaining his freedom. The autobiography begins with the narrator transporting the reader back to his early youth. Equiano provides a very detailed description of his village life in Eboe, Africa. However, Equiano life and freedom is quickly taken from him, as he is snatched and thrust into the chains of slavery. Along Equiano enslavement he experiences religion, theories of the enlightenment and the brutally of slavery before he is finally able to obtain his freedom. Equiano experiences through enslavement led to his enlighten optimism and his evangelic pessimism. The controversy surrounding the historiographical authenticity of Equiano experience of enslavement can be linked to the influential authorship within the eighteenth century.

Slavery was not a pretty sight in and during the Atlantic Slave Trade. Innocent African natives were stolen from their families. They only possessions carry along with them was their memories of being free persons living freely the pieces of the African cultures they derived from. When they arrive to their new, broken lives their gender were specified in roles people could not even envision occurring on a daily basis. Olaudah Equiano was one those persons. He lived majority of his life a slave but lived to see the beautiful pieces of world despite the world he was succumbed to. Mary Prince, living a tragic life story of being a slave deriving from her homeland to land she forced to call home. Equiano and Prince shared similar and different attributes concerning their experiences as slaves. The British West Indies were horrifying yet gave strength to Equiano and Prince within their experiences as slaves. When it came to who suffered the most, Mary compared to Equiano was exposed to more painful events in their time in bondage. I will discuss their similarities and their differences.

It was so many things in the video but what really caught my attention was the first anti-slavery Organization called Society of the Friends of the Black. Another thing that caught my attention was the Opium Poppy plant was a considered and drug how it was smuggling into China. Scholar officials supported legalization and taxation of opium but how the others wanted to crackdown. It just goes to show things haven’t changes with the drug trade. Mass production improved productivity, which was a contributing factor to economic growth and the decline in work week hours. It showed America how to work for their self. Even though came with a price from poverty but also making cities and different classes of people.

The “Narrative of The Life” by Olaudah Equiano, who witnesses the power that white Americans exert against people of color, not only presented his story to the reader so people could learn the reality about slavery, but also shows

Slave resistance had a huge impact on the abolition of slavery and it was shown in many ways that we would all just naturally think of like rebelliousness, sickness, or working at a slow pace. Several writers were successful in creating a vivid illustration of the depravity and degeneracy of the slave trade. Among the most compelling was the writing of Olaudah Equiano. Equiano, a slave who had successfully broken free from slavery on his own. He wrote a detailed description of the astonishment and terror that he experienced during his travels on slave ships. Equiano’s account entails his capture as a young boy, his experiences in the filthy tightly packed lower decks