Olaudah Equiano Research Paper

Being Taken into Slavery Although the African Americans of all ages were confused about the horrible things happening to them, some of them stayed strong. The hard life that the African Americans went through were horrific. The many trials and tribulations they faced only seemed to get worse as their “initiation” into slavery continued. The brutality African Americans faced while being taken into slavery was just the beginning of the terror. First, slave traders, or those in service of slave traders, would find, many times, isolated villages to attack. The whites would go into villages and raid them for the strong men that could be a hard worker for them. African Americans would be sleeping in their beds at night And they would be suddenly

One account of being taken upon a slave ship comes from Gustavus Vassa (also known as Olaudah Equiano). As relived through his autobiography The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano, Vassa details his experience boarding the ships as horrifying. Thrown aboard a ship, Vassa found himself at once terrified. As he recovered, he found other black people around him. Never having seen Whites before, Vassa had no idea what was going to happen to him. Confused by his unfamiliar surroundings, Gustavus asked those around him if he was going be eaten by the crew of the ship. Vassa’s experiences were very representative of what others faced (The Slave

There were many typical, and horrifying, circumstances one might see on a slave ship. The men and boys were stripped and shackled together two-by-two. They were put in the hold of the ship which was dark and unsanitary(The Slave Trade). The quarters of the slaves which they were at on the ship's crammed so they could carry more African Americans. Women and children weren’t chained up and they quarters were different then the mens. All of the slaves slept on bare wood and the motion of the ship caused the elbows of the slaves to wear down to the bone. There were two different philosophies among the slave ship captain which were the “loose packers” and the “tight packers (The Slave Trade). The loose packers thought carrying less African American would mean more of them survive the voyage and they would get more money out of them. Tight packers thought more money would come out of overcrowding the hold of the ship and if a few slaves die they die. If the weather is good they will allow the slaves to come out on the deck just during the day. Many slaves died of measles, smallpox, malaria, and dysentery (The Slave