ipl-logo

Equiano Middle Passage Analysis

1161 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Slavery in west africa

Equiano’s Travels provides a wonderful description of enslavement in West Africa and also the Middle Passage to make it seem as if you are actually there. Equiano used various descriptive words to describe the conditions of enslavement across the Atlantic Ocean. In chapter one, Equiano explains his village, Elboe, in terms of what he experienced, the traditions, and he mentions a little about slavery domestically. The way slavery existed was generally by a punishment of a crime. Slaves were only “. . .prisoners of war, or such among us as had been convicted of kidnapping, or adultery, and some other crimes which we esteemed heinous.” (6) The people of Elboe were known for their employment in agriculture. The reason the Elboe slaves were preferred was because of their “. . hardiness, intelligence, integrity.” (7) …show more content…

One of the first objects that he saw was a slave ship. He described the ship as having “ large furnace or copper boiling and multitude of black people of every description chained together. I fell motionless on the deck and fainted.” (22) In other words, the conditions of this ship was so horrible that he fainted! Equiano also described the conditions by stating “This wretched situation was again aggravated by the galling of the chains, now become insupportable, and the filfth of the necessary tubs, into which the children often fell and were almost suffocated.” (25) In chapter one, he explained that Elboe was known for their cleanliness. So, this was an adjustment to him because he is use to clean conditions. Equiano explained that the slave ships were very crowded and the climate made it very hot on the ships. Due to the conditions “This produced copious perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for respiration from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought sickness among the slaves, of which many died,” (25) They were chained and packed which ultimately lead to

Show More
Related
1327 Words | 6 Pages

Analysis of Abina Mansah v. Quimina Eddoo As argued by Olaudah Equiano, “I doubt not, if a system of commerce was established in Africa, the demand for manufactures would rapidly augment, as the native inhabitants would insensibly adopt the British fashions, manners, customs, etc.” (pg 181, WTWA). Equiano’s vision for a British Africa drove the colonization of West Africa and the creation of new plantations. In this new colony, there was the continued use of slavery until its abolishment by the Victorian empire. To a society who has always seen the value of using slave labor, the abolishment of slavery meant the complete change of their lives.

Read More
136 Words | 1 Pages

Olaudah Equiano begins his journal entry by describing the ocean and the slave ship, which were the first things he saw when he was taken onto the slave ship. He was fascinated by them, but he soon realized that it was going to be a horrific journey. Equiano’s first thought was that they were going to kill him, for they had a different skin tone, bore long hair, and spoke a different language. The crew beat Olaudah when he refused to eat. The conditions under the deck where Equiano lived were dreadful: people were packed together so tightly that they were fighting for breathing room.

Read More
326 Words | 2 Pages

After the first passage of slavery the next passage is middle passage. Middle passage is when the new slave coming to the new world would be on highly crowded ships. They had little to drink or eat. Some died from dehydration. The bad smells caused in outbreak in dysentery which took lives.

Read More
721 Words | 3 Pages

Then as well with the Middle passage traveling how in Falconbridge it says "The man slaves, on being brought aboard the ship, are immediately fastened together, two and two, by hand-cuffs on their wrists, and by irons riveted on their leg" (Freeman 3). And then in Equiano it talks about how the author saw tons of slaved chained together and he was horrified. 2) How do the two accounts differ in describing the Middle Passage? Do these inconsistencies discredit either story?

Read More
721 Words | 3 Pages

Then as well with the Middle passage traveling how in Falconbridge it says "The man slaves, on being brought aboard the ship, are immediately fastened together, two and two, by hand-cuffs on their wrists, and by irons riveted on their leg" (Freeman 3). And then in Equiano it talks about how the author saw tons of slaved chained together and he was horrified. 2) How do the two accounts differ in describing the Middle Passage? Do these inconsistencies discredit either story?

Read More
507 Words | 3 Pages

Olaudah Equiano and William Wilberforce From 1807 in Britain to 1865 in the United States the process and finalization of the abolishing of slavery began with Olaudah Equiano and William Wilberforce. Born in Igbo land, also known as Southeastern Nigeria, in 1745 Olaudah Equiano had no idea that his future would be filled with separation from his family, being bought and sold, and forced labor. Olaudah Equiano was around 12 years old when he was kidnapped and sold into slavery he first arrived in England from Igbo land.

Read More
1405 Words | 6 Pages

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

Read More
689 Words | 3 Pages

In his book, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, African author Olaudah Equiano wrote about his life and experiences after being sold into the slave trade. Equiano used his writing to expose the horrors of slavery and the agony he and other slaves faced. He wrote with the hope that by exposing the horrors that slaves endure, people would realize how wicked slavery was and put an end to it. Equiano spoke about his encounters with white men in the Middle Passage and how he was terrified of them in chapter two of his book. As they examined him when he initially boarded the ship, he described how he was terrified: "I was immediately handled and tossed up to see if I were sound by some of the crew; and I was now persuaded that I had gotten into a world of bad spirits, and that they were going to kill me."

Read More
434 Words | 2 Pages

The most reliable document to understand the Middle Passage is document c which was the account of a slave ship doctor named Alexander Falconbridge in 1788 of the Slave Trade of Coast of Africa. This document is reliable because it is a primary source which is “an artifact, a document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, a recording, or other source of information that was created at the time under study”. Besides being a primary source, he was neither a slave owner or a slave, so there wouldn't be much bias towards a group. In his account, he writes about the harsh conditions he witnessed such as slaves being cuffed and held so closely to each other that they could only lie on their sides, buckets for feces, buckets for water, and tubs for food. These conditions lead to diseases such as flux to be spread easily.

Read More
493 Words | 2 Pages

Socrates died yesterday at the age of 71 when he was executed because of his religious beliefs. He was known by many people in Greece and was well liked by some as well as hated amongst crowds of people. His views on politics turned many people against him including the Athenian government. Socrates was sentenced to death because he refused to recognize the gods and the government thought he sought to corrupt the youth by teaching them to ask questions to find the answers. The Socratic method is a form of discussion when people ask questions to stimulate thinking and discovering people’s ideas, and his thoughts got him in a lot of trouble.

Read More
1147 Words | 5 Pages

“The people of the great vessel were wicked: when we had been shipped, they took away all the small pieces of cloth which were on our bodies, and threw them into the water, then they took chains and tethered two together. Every morning they had to take the man, and throw them into the water,” (First Hand Accounts Case Study). This quote suggests that the crew expressed little sympathy to slaves. This is demonstrated in the novel by Paula Fox The Slave Dancer.

Read More
413 Words | 2 Pages

To many Africans, slavery was equivalent to hell on

Read More
1798 Words | 8 Pages

With limited resources, crew members of the ship had to improvise ways to survive long trips. One example is when Rediker mentions the methods that Stanfield used to keep himself alive. The author says “when Stanfield discovered that dew collected atop the ship’s hen coops overnight, he sucked the moisture every morning” (Rediker 141). Members of the crew, including Stanfield himself, had to find new approaches to keep themselves alive if they were going to survive the extensive journey. Survival was also essential for the African captives aboard the slave ship.

Read More
392 Words | 2 Pages

Douglass encountered multiple harsh realities of being enslaved. For example, the ex-slave was practically starved to death by his masters on multiple occasions. In fact, “[He was] allowed less than a half of a bushel of corn-meal per week, and very little else... It was not enough for [him] to subsist upon... A great many times [he had] been nearly perishing with hunger” (pg 31).

Read More
665 Words | 3 Pages

In this paper, I will discuss the similarities, and the differences between “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” and “Journal of the First Voyage to America”. Both stories are trying to persuade the readers to reach their personal goal. However, there are a lot of differences between these two stories: different reader, different purpose,... Starting with, “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano”. The author in his writing is talking about the living condition of the slaves on the ship.

Read More

More about Equiano Middle Passage Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document