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Captivity And Enslavement, By Olaudah Equiano

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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. Equiano writes how the white men would throw the dead over board as if they were basically trash, slaves were beaten severely if they refused to eat or tried to escape. These severe acts of punishment …show more content…

According to this document, what are the fundamental roles of government and the individual citizen? According to this document, the fundamental roles of the government was to make sure their citizens were seen as equal in rights and in religious tolerance. Also, citizens should be treated fairly for example, when in prison and on trial. Finally, the government had to make sure that citizens had secure foundational rights such as speaking freely and expressing political concerns. The fundamental roles of the individual citizen were to exercise these rights such as expressing their opinion in both speaking in public (freedom of speech, 11) and in deciding on things such as taxes (speaking to a representative,14). 3. How does the document define political sovereignty, and how is this definition related to the deputies’ collective sense of identity and …show more content…

Overall the decree is stressing that the slaves are now free French people. So these regulations and laws can reveal that the Europeans would be hesitant in following through with accepting the slaves as equal citizens rather than seeing them as unpaid laborers owned by the Europeans. The decree was crafted in a sort of structure that what was written is what is to be followed, the decree is black and white, no gray areas, and no loopholes. The decree is broken down by recalling “The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen” and after follows the proclamation that slaves were free French citizens, and then laid out specific detailed laws to follow when it came to employing, paying and treatment of the newly freed slaves in

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