Effects Of Olaudah Equiano On Slavery

Africans were forcefully enslaved and exiled from their homes in Africa. They were looked down upon by many people. The transatlantic slave trade is a harrowing event in human history that involved the forced capture and enslavement of millions of Africans. As this issue illustrates, the Africans were dehumanized and seen solely as commodities, who were valued for their physical capabilities in order to provide labor and wealth for the growing plantation societies in the Americas. An aspect of the dehumanization of Africans was the use of violence. Africans who resisted the process of commodification and dehumanization were often subjected to brutal violence. This violence was designed to break the spirit of the Africans and to make them

Equiano experiences his transition from freedom to enslavement as a child. His childhood up until 11 years old was good. He was happy in Africa with his family. As a young man, he was shipped to the Caribbean as a victim of the Atlantic slave trade. Later sold as a slave to a royal navy officer. To be sold twice more after that. He purchased his freedom in 1766. Went on to work as an explorer and merchant, and settled in England. Equiano's experience with the selling process of slaves was dreadful. He goes on to explain how he was under the deck, while people continue to cry all through the night. All pushed in with no room, more people than should be allowed on a boat. Slaves were forced to do jumping jacks as their only exercise being called “dancing slaves''. If they were not physically fit then they couldn't be worth much money. Slave traders were looking for anyone who was physically able to lift or do a multitude of things. Needed them specifically for free

Slaves of all ages were fighting against death and the dehumanization they were put through. Seen as a number and lost profit over a human being and lives lost. They were viewed as commodities that could be bought and sold like any other good. African enslaved people became the most valuable commodity for European traders as the demand for cheap labor on plantations in the Americas increased. The commodification of Africans was accompanied by a process of dehumanization that aimed to strip Africans of their humanity and reduce them to objects. Dehumanization was a necessary component of the transatlantic slave trade as it allowed Europeans and Americans to justify the buying and selling of human beings. The process of dehumanization was designed to break the spirit of Africans and to make them more