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Summary Of Chapter 2 Horrors Of A Slave Ship

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The definition of slavery can be known as a condition of a slave in respect to arduous labor work and/or extremely limited freedom. Therefore, three different forms of slavery are depicted in Olaudah Equiano’s “Chapter 2: Horrors of a Slave Ship.” These consist of the slavery that Equiano endured while still in Africa, suffered through on the slave ships, and saw the beginnings of in Barbados. The only thing we learn about slavery hardships, in Barbados, is the buyers of the slaves purchase them in such a fashion that leads to family and loved ones being forever separated, with no hope of reuniting. Equiano rhetorically asks the reader wonderfully, Are the dearest friends and relations, now rendered more dear by their separation from their …show more content…

This is expressed, with regards to the above quote, when he ends the chapter with, “Surely, this is a new refinement in cruelty, which…thus aggravates distress and adds fresh horrors even to the wretchedness of slavery” (396). The things he underwent in Africa are never described in detail, per say, but he did refer to it in the quote before and when he claims, “…I even wished for my former slavery in preference to my present situation, which I was filled with horrors of every kind, still heightened by my ignorance of what I was to undergo” (393). The main form of slavery seen in this chapter is what he describes of his time on the slave ships. The men on these ships were such brutes they were said to even flog one white man to death. They stripped Equiano and the other slaves of almost every ounce of freedom, upon these ships. They were required to eat when too sick, but were not allowed much food in general and otherwise. The slaves were scared into staying aboard and not jump to sea to quicken their death. Also, against their greatest will, the slaves were forced to stay packed under the decks with smells, diseases, and conditions that led to many horrid

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591 Words | 3 Pages

The mental health of the slaves, which was so evidently tarnished, was completely disregarded by these people. Riggs’ detail of each slave’s face shows the anguish and torture that each one is going through. The reader could also imagine this through the imagery that is displayed throughout Equiano’s narrative. One example of this is when Equiano described the lower deck of the second ship he was on. He stated that “the shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole scene of horror almost inconceivable” (697).

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Equiano’s narrative not only open doors to ending slavery, but also gives us some clear insight about the many struggles the slaves had endured. Equiano Olaudah, who was born in 1745, was a member of the Eboe tribe who came from a village in Essaka (Benin) which is now southeastern Nigeria, West Africa. Part of his culture, was having a mark placed on a certain part of his body, which was significant to his culture. According to Equiano, “This mark conferred on the person entitled to it, by cutting the skin across at the top of the forehead, and drawing it down to the eyebrows; and while it is in this situation applying a warm hand, and rubbing it until it shrinks up into a thick weal across the lower part of the forehead” ( Equiano p. 5-6).

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Equiano described the horrors of a slave ship based on his firsthand experience. He describes what it was like to be thrown onto a ship, the indescribable smell of being crammed on the deck with so many other slaves, and the floggings he and the other slaves received for not eating. The slaves were so tightly packed together the air was dangerous to breath, and many of the slaves became sick and died from it, while others suffocated to death. Men were pushed to the brink of starvation, tried to steal food, and were severely flogged for it. Others tried to jump overboard and drown rather than accept their life of misery.

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Over half of the slaves did not make it across the Atlantic. They could pack more than 600 people onto one ship alone. They had about six square feet of space for 1 person. At this point the slaves had no further control of their own lives. The ships were in very poor condition considering the Africans could not take showers so the odor was horrific.

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While aboard the ship, the slaves were placed in a common living quarter under the deck of the ship; hundreds of slaves were packed like sardines and chained during the voyage across the Atlantic. When first introduced to a new setting, under the deck, Equiano remarks, “there I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life: So that with the loathsomeness of the stench and crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat…” (Rowlandson 56). Equiano was placed in an environment with sickening conditions compared to Rowlandson’s discomfort and change of standard of living that made her conditions

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683 Words | 3 Pages

In Equiano's personal slave narrative, "The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African", Equiano flips the idea that the African people are backwards and barbaric, thus ripe for slavery, by demonstrating his personal exceptionalism through his literacy to show that it is truly the white people who are backwards and barbaric through their own hypocrisy. This reversal that Equiano demonstrates in his slave narrative shows that the savagery of African people exists as a misconception and makes the reader fully grasp the need to abolish slavery and any inequality present. On page seventy-eight, Equiano uses first person pronouns like 'I', 'my', and 'me' to separate himself from the other African people and whites around him. This separation that Equiano creates demonstrates his exceptionalism as an African slave.

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Olaudah Equiano and Slavery in the 18th Century Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography was, at its time of publication, an invaluable account of the dark realities of the slave trade. However, to a reader living in the 21st century, Equiano’s insight may seemingly lose some of its value.

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This chapter addresses the central argument that African history and the lives of Africans are often dismissed. For example, the author underlines that approximately 50,000 African captives were taken to the Dutch Caribbean while 1,600,000 were sent to the French Caribbean. In addition, Painter provides excerpts from the memoirs of ex-slaves, Equiano and Ayuba in which they recount their personal experience as slaves. This is important because the author carefully presents the topic of slaves as not just numbers, but as individual people. In contrast, in my high school’s world history class, I can profoundly recall reading an excerpt from a European man in the early colonialism period which described his experience when he first encountered the African people.

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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.

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When Brent at last receives her and her children’s full liberation, she obtains it through the benevolence of a true friend, Mrs. Bruce. Brent enlightens that “I am deeply grateful to the generous friend who procured it, but I despise the miscreant who demanded payment for what never rightfully belong to his or his” (185) and though Brent was truly appreciative of the benevolence shown to her by her friend, she was not entirely happy about it either. Brent realized the implications behind a human being sold as a piece of property and that though she was bought under kind circumstances, it was a kind of benevolence that should never have been needed in the first place. Brent pronounces that “A human being sold in the free city of New York! The

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1891 Words | 8 Pages

It was in vain that we besought them not to part us; she was torn from me, and immediately carried away, while I was left in a state of distraction not to be described. I cried and grieved continually; and for several days I did not eat anything but what they forced into my mouth” (Equiano). Aside from the dangerous aspects of slavery, Equiano provides insight into the violence that tore families apart. His unending grief and lack of appetite furthermore illustrates the psychological violence that he and many other slaves endured as a consequence of slavery. Slaves weren’t the only marginalized group,

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After being forced to travel for several days, Equiano and his sister were separated. For the next six or seven months, Equiano was sold several times to African masters in different countries. He was eventually taken to the west coast of Africa and carried aboard a slave ship bound for the West Indies” (Equiano 84). This text proves that Equiano in fact was forced to take thus journey as a slave and was seperated from all of his family. Both of these men took a similar journey to the new world, but they see it very

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Many changes occurred during the long 18th century which were highly influenced by the Enlightenment era. A written work called The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olauda Equiano by Olauda Equiano states the difficulties Africans went through during the 18th century that made the Enlightenment era. While writing his novel during the Age of Reason, Equiano employed logical appeal, emotional appeal, and focused on making a call for social improvements, which were typical aspects in writing from this period. The purpose of this writing is to persuade others to take action on slavery using emotional appeals.

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I had not then learned the measure of "man 's inhumanity to man," nor to what limitless extent of wickedness he will go for the love of gain. ”(Northup, 21) His values and morals reflect how he treats his slaves and his overall

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Through Douglass’s writing, the reader learns of how slavery takes its toll, not just on the slaves, but on everyone involved. Even the purest soul is destroyed, both the slave and the slave

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