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Olaudah Equiano And Slavery

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The course of Native African’s history has been marked by deadly wars, spreads of mortal diseases, massive droughts, food and water scarcities, but there is one tragedy that rises above all of them: slavery (involuntary human servitude). During the 15th to the 19th century massive slave trades took place across the Atlantic Ocean, from Africa to the Caribbean, North and South America. This has been the most concerning fatality that has ever occurred to Native Africans. Not only was their culture taken away, but their lives as well. The trades had no limits, slaves were from small boys and girls to elder men and women. Families and loved ones were separated and torn off with no mercy. They received a cruel treatment while being transported …show more content…

A clear example of this is Olaudah Equiano, whose narrative has been published and is now well-known by many. His biography made a great impact in society and contributed to the banning of slave trade. Olaudah Equiano was only eleven years old when he and his sister were kidnapped from their home and sold to slave traders. Before being shipped to an unknown destination, they were held up in forts or most commonly know as “Slave Castles”. Afterwards, the circumstances in which they were transported were atrocious and nefarious. They were transported in small voyages and for six to ten weeks hundreds of Africans were crammed below deck in spaces sometimes less than five feet high, shackled. Families were completely separated, men from women, placed in different holds. They were not fed for days and could hardly breathe below deck since there were many at once. Slaves were introduced to unknown diseases and suffered from malnutrition long before they reached their destination. Many of the Africans preferred death over slavery. As Olaudah Equiano mentions, some men that were traveling with him jumped to the ocean to reach death, but did not succeed. The death of the Africans meant economic loss for the traders, so maintaining them alive before selling them, was a rough

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The Atlantic slave trade was a huge business which had a significant impact in modern world history. For four centuries, its geographical scope encompassed four continents. Over the span of time its impact affected millions of people, and its consequences are still evident in some ways today. One such victim was Olaudah Equiano, who was from in or around what is now Nigeria. At the age of eleven he was kidnapped along with his sister and was sold in the Atlantic slave trade.

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