Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, written by Himself (London: 1790), 51-54. PART A: How is Equiano's emphasis on the smells aboard the ship important to the development of his central ideas? Surely, this is a new refinement in cruelty, which, while it has no advantage to atone for it, thus aggravates distress, and adds fresh horrors even to the wretchedness of slavery. Paragraph 6 Asked by Mikyla J #1114428 on 2/17/2021 4:25 AM Last updated by Aslan on 2/17/2021 4:57 AM Answers 1 Add Yours. Is it not enough that we are torn from our country and friends, to toil for your luxury and lust of gain? Nam risus ante, dapibus a molestie consequat, ultrices ac magna. I asked them if we were not to be eaten by those white men with horrible looks, red faces, and long hair. One of the blacks therefore took it from him and gave it to me, and I took a little down my palate, which, instead of reviving me, as they thought it would, threw me into the greatest consternation at the strange feeling it produced, having never tasted any such liquor before. Soon after this, the blacks who brought me on board went off, and left me abandoned to despair. They told me they could not tell; but that there was cloth put upon the masts by the help of the ropes I saw, and then the vessel went on; and the white men had some spell or magic they put in the water when they liked, in order to stop the vessel. was a little revived, and thought, if it were no worse than working, my situation was not so desperate; but still I feared I should be put to death, the white people looked and acted, as I thought, in so savage a manner; for I had never seen among any people such instances of brutal cruelty; and this not only shown towards us blacks, but also to some of the whites themselves. 0000034176 00000 n These voyage ships were full of the white men who kept in watch of each slave move. 0000052442 00000 n 0000070742 00000 n Equiano explains how his memories are bittersweet, especially given the events of his early years. Constitution Avenue, NW These filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror, when I was carried on board. might not an African ask you Learned you this from your God, who says unto you, Do unto all men as you would men should do unto you? I asked them if we were not to be eaten by those white men with horrible looks, red faces, and long hair. We were conducted immediately to the merchants yard, where we were all pent up together, like so many sheep in a fold, without regard to sex or age. Significant Form, Style, or Artistic Conventions I always discuss Equiano's work in conjunction with the whole genre of spiritual autobiography. This account of the "middle passage" comes from one of the first writings by an ex-slave, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African. . What was the Middle Passage like? He was one of millions of Africans who were sold into slavery from the 15th through the 19th centuries. They told me I was not, and one of the crew brought me a small portion of spirituous liquor in a wine glass; but being afraid of him, I would not take it out of his hand. One day they had taken a number of fishes; and when they had killed and satisfied themselves with as many as they thought fit, to our astonishment who were on deck, rather than give any of them to us to eat, as we expected, they tossed the remaining fish into the sea again, although we begged and prayed for some as well as we could, but in vain; and some of my countrymen, being pressed by hunger, took an opportunity, when they thought no one saw them, of trying to get a little privately; but they were discovered, and the attempt procured them some very severe floggings. We thought by this, we should be eaten by these ugly men, as they appeared to us; and, when soon after we were all put down under the deck again, there was much dread and trembling among us, and nothing but bitter cries to be heard all the night from these apprehensions, insomuch, that at last the white people got some old slaves from the land to pacify us. Pellentesque dapibus efficitur laoreet. 0000003711 00000 n This heightened my wonder; and I was now more persuaded than ever, that I was in another world, and that every thing about me was magic. He was the youngest son of seven brothers and sisters, and was trained in agriculture and war. PART B: Which of the following quotations supports the answer to Part A? Source Date. Equiano eventually purchased his freedom and lived in London where he advocated for abolition. In this manner we continued to undergo more hardships than I can now relate, hardships which are inseparable from this accursed trade. I now saw myself deprived of all chance of returning to my native country, or even the least glimpse of hope of gaining the shore, which I now considered as friendly; and I even wished for my former slavery in preference to my present situation, which was filled with horrors of every kind, still heightened by my ignorance of what I was to undergo. Your Recalls and Product Safety Alerts; Amazon Assistant; Help; English United States. The drawing shows about 450 people; The Sinking of the Central America, Wong Hands residence and travel documents, Download the student worksheet for Olaudah Equiano, http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/exhibition/1_4.html, http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/exhibition/1_2.html#LifeAtSea1, http://www.history.ac.uk/1807commemorated/exhibitions/museums/brookes.html. 0000179632 00000 n These filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror, when I was carried on board. 0000007945 00000 n They at last took notice of my surprise; and one of them, willing to increase it, as well as to gratify my curiosity, made me one day look through it. Their complexions, too, differing so much from ours, their long hair, and the language they spoke (which was very different from any I had ever heard), united to confirm me in this belief. DuBois on Black Progress (1895, 1903), Jane Addams, The Subjective Necessity for Social Settlements (1892), Eugene Debs, How I Became a Socialist (April, 1902), Walter Rauschenbusch, Christianity and the Social Crisis (1907), Alice Stone Blackwell, Answering Objections to Womens Suffrage (1917), Theodore Roosevelt on The New Nationalism (1910), Woodrow Wilson Requests War (April 2, 1917), Emma Goldman on Patriotism (July 9, 1917), W.E.B DuBois, Returning Soldiers (May, 1919), Lutiant Van Wert describes the 1918 Flu Pandemic (1918), Manuel Quezon calls for Filipino Independence (1919), Warren G. Harding and the Return to Normalcy (1920), Crystal Eastman, Now We Can Begin (1920), Marcus Garvey, Explanation of the Objects of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (1921), Hiram Evans on the The Klans Fight for Americanism (1926), Herbert Hoover, Principles and Ideals of the United States Government (1928), Ellen Welles Page, A Flappers Appeal to Parents (1922), Huey P. Long, Every Man a King and Share our Wealth (1934), Franklin Roosevelts Re-Nomination Acceptance Speech (1936), Second Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1937), Lester Hunter, Id Rather Not Be on Relief (1938), Bertha McCall on Americas Moving People (1940), Dorothy West, Amateur Night in Harlem (1938), Charles A. Lindbergh, America First (1941), A Phillip Randolph and Franklin Roosevelt on Racial Discrimination in the Defense Industry (1941), Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga on Japanese Internment (1942/1994), Harry Truman Announcing the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima (1945), Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945), Dwight D. Eisenhower, Atoms for Peace (1953), Senator Margaret Chase Smiths Declaration of Conscience (1950), Lillian Hellman Refuses to Name Names (1952), Paul Robesons Appearance Before the House Un-American Activities Committee (1956), Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), Richard Nixon on the American Standard of Living (1959), John F. Kennedy on the Separation of Church and State (1960), Congressman Arthur L. Miller Gives the Putrid Facts About Homosexuality (1950), Rosa Parks on Life in Montgomery, Alabama (1956-1958), Barry Goldwater, Republican Nomination Acceptance Speech (1964), Lyndon Johnson on Voting Rights and the American Promise (1965), Lyndon Johnson, Howard University Commencement Address (1965), National Organization for Women, Statement of Purpose (1966), George M. Garcia, Vietnam Veteran, Oral Interview (1969/2012), Fannie Lou Hamer: Testimony at the Democratic National Convention 1964, Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (1968), Statement by John Kerry of Vietnam Veterans Against the War (1971), Barbara Jordan, 1976 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address (1976), Jimmy Carter, Crisis of Confidence (1979), Gloria Steinem on Equal Rights for Women (1970), First Inaugural Address of Ronald Reagan (1981), Jerry Falwell on the Homosexual Revolution (1981), Statements from The Parents Music Resource Center (1985), Phyllis Schlafly on Womens Responsibility for Sexual Harassment (1981), Jesse Jackson on the Rainbow Coalition (1984), Bill Clinton on Free Trade and Financial Deregulation (1993-2000), The 9/11 Commission Report, Reflecting On A Generational Challenge (2004), George W. Bush on the Post-9/11 World (2002), Pedro Lopez on His Mothers Deportation (2008/2015), Chelsea Manning Petitions for a Pardon (2013), Emily Doe (Chanel Miller), Victim Impact Statement (2015). had they any like themselves? They also made us jump, and pointed to the land, signifying we were to go there. In this manner we continued to undergo more hardships than I can now relate, hardships which are inseparable from this accursed trade. At last, when the ship we were in, had got in all her cargo, they made ready with many fearful noises, and we were all put under deck, so that we could not see how they managed the vessel. I then was a little revived, and thought, if it were no worse than working, my situation was not so desperate; but still I feared I should be put to death, the white people looked and acted, as I thought, in so savage a manner; for I had never seen among any people such instances of brutal cruelty; and this not only shown towards us blacks, but also to some of the whites themselves. As Chapter 1 opens, Equiano first explains why he is writing the book. Equiano became an abolitionist and began to record his life story after being freed. Then, said I, how comes it in all our country we never heard of them? They told me because they lived so very far off. by khalihampton in Wise English. 0000087103 00000 n Introduction"But is not the slave trade entirely a war with the heart of man? They at last took notice of my surprise; and one of them, willing to increase it, as well as to gratify my curiosity, made me one day look through it. Source: Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The Interesting Narrative of the Olaudah Equiano, kidnapped as a boy from his homeland in what is today Nigeria, recalls in his memoir, "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." When he was about ten years old, he was kidnapped by Africans known as Aros and sold into slavery. This report eased us much. Discuss the consequences of Suhrab's actions - is Rustam t 0000005604 00000 n Olaudah Equiano Describes the Middle Passage, 1789 In this harrowing description of the Middle Passage, Olaudah Equiano described the terror of the transatlantic slave trade. Equiano is struck by the claustrophobic conditions below decks . 0000091145 00000 n Several of the strangers also shook hands with us black people, and made motions with their hands, signifying I suppose, we were to go to their country, but we did not understand them. Jim Egan Brown University. Download the student worksheet for Olaudah Equiano. They put us in separate parcels, and examined us attentively. Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. . In a little time after, amongst the poor chained men, I found some of my own nation, which in a small degree gave ease to my mind. This text comes from Equiano's biography. Then, said I, how comes it in all our country we never heard of them? They told me because they lived so very far off. 0000001900 00000 n What differences do you see? . Olaudah Equiano wrote an account of the Middle Passage in his 1789 autobiography. The events he will recount, no matter how horrifying, are normal for people like him. He is sometimes left unchained above deck and at other times he is chained with the rest. Report your findings. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. At last, she came to an anchor in my sight, and when the anchor was let go, I and my countrymen who saw it, were lost in astonishment to observe the vessel stopand were now convinced it was done by magic. IN PAKISTAN, A SELF-STYLED TEACHER HOLDS CLAS, A DEFIANT MUHAMMAD ALI WAS CHERISHED BY BLACK, Inquizitve-Writing about Literature: The Lite. Originally published in 1789, Olaudah Equiano's The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Conditions were harsh and cruel, and flogging was common. O, ye nominal Christians! I now wished for the last friend, Death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two of the white men offered me eatables; and, on my refusing to eat, one of them held me fast by the hands, and laid me across, I think, the windlass, and tied my feet, while the other flogged me severely. While I was in this astonishment, one of my fellow prisoners spoke to a countryman of his, about the horses, who said they were the same kind they had in their country. At last, when the ship we were in had got in all her cargo, they made ready with many fearful noises, and we were all put under deck, so that we could not see how they managed the vessel. (understood/understand), Four ways in which the rule of law could protect community members whose private property was damaged during a protest action, is being lonley and isolated a common issue that is with among other individuals in a similar mental state as lennie. Are the dearest friends and relations, now rendered more dear by their separation from their kindred, still to be parted from each other, and thus prevented from cheering the gloom of slavery, with the small comfort of being together, and mingling their sufferings and sorrows? I now saw myself deprived of all chance of returning to my native country, or even the least glimpse of hope of gaining the shore, which I now considered as friendly; and I even wished for my former slavery in preference to my present situation, which was filled with horrors of every kind, still heightened by my ignorance of what I was to undergo. British parliamentary committee filled the drawings decks with figures we should be eaten by these ugly men, as they appeared to us; and, when soon after we were all put down under the deck again, there was much dread and trembling among us, and nothing but bitter cries to be heard all the night from these apprehensions, insomuch, that at last the white people got some old slaves from the land to pacify us. I did not _______________ it at all. 0000006713 00000 n I then. Olaudah Equiano recounts his kidnapping . 0000002932 00000 n Within the Middle Passage, one experienced utmost squalor, starvation, cruelty, diseases, branding as goods, and near death. You may use the written transcript to guide you. They was beating . 1, 7088. Olaudah Equiano begins his narrative by describing the customs of his native land in modern-day Nigeria. In this manner, without scruple, are relations and friends separated, most of them never to see each other again. 0000091628 00000 n xref This report eased us much. In this situation I expected every hour to share the fate of my companions, some of whom were almost daily brought upon deck at the point of death, which I began to hope would soon put an end to my miseries. We did not know what to think of this; but as the vessel drew nearer, we plainly saw the harbor, and other ships of different kinds and sizes, and we soon anchored amongst them, off Bridgetown. I could not help expressing my fears and apprehensions to some of my countrymen; I asked them if these people had no country, but lived in this hollow place (the ship)? This map includes European names for parts of the West African coast where More books than SparkNotes. 0000052373 00000 n 0000010066 00000 n There was nothing but sickness, suffering, humiliation, and . I now wished for the last friend, Death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two of the white men offered me eatables; and, on my refusing to eat, one of them held me fast by the hands, and laid me across, I think, the windlass, and tied my feet, while the other flogged me severely. Not affiliated with Harvard College. I did not know what this could mean; and, indeed, I thought these people were full of nothing but magical arts. At last we came in sight of the island of Barbadoes, at which the whites on board gave a great shout, and made many signs of joy to us. 0000001999 00000 n 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. One white man in particular I saw, when we were permitted to be on deck, flogged so unmercifully with a large rope near the foremast, that he died in consequence of it; and they tossed him over the side as they would have done a brute. Years later he was able to buy his freedom and became an the Brooks carried 609 on a voyage in 1786. The Interesting Narrative of The Life of Olaudah Equiano, Chapter II. 0000002872 00000 n I was not long suffered to indulge my grief; I was soon put down under the decks, and 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, nor had I the least desire to taste anything. Working from measurements of a Liverpool slave ship, a In a little time after, amongst the poor chained men, I found some of my own nation, which in a small degree gave ease to my mind. Equiano tells of the "cruelty" of the Europeans and that they displayed this cruelty even toward their own people. Written by Himself. Often did I think many of the inhabitants of the deep much more happy than myself; I envied them the freedom they enjoyed, and as often wished I could change my condition for theirs. The noise and clamor with which this is attended, and the eagerness visible in the countenances of the buyers, serve not a little to increase the apprehension of terrified Africans, who may well be supposed to consider them as the ministers of that destruction to which they think themselves devoted. Grade 6 Up-This engrossing and detailed account of the Middle Passage evokes powerful images through full-page oil paintings, riveting reproductions, and maps. False, Discuss the challenges that Suhrab has to overcome in order to gain his father's trust. 0000049655 00000 n The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast, was the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding at anchor, and waiting for its cargo. Equiano was born in Nigeria and was kidnapped into slavery at the age of eleven. New Light on Eighteenth-Century Question of Identity" in a 1999 issue of Slavery and Abolition that the eighteenth-century author might have been born in South Carolina rather than Africa, as Equiano himself states in The Interesting Narrative, a scholarly firestorm erupted over the question of . 0000091180 00000 n He briefly was commissary to Sierra Leone for the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor; he was replaced after he expressed his concerns for settlerssome 500 to 600 formerly enslaved peopleand how they were poorly treated before their journey to Sierra Leone.
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