Written by Himself. Most slaves were seized inland and marched to coastal forts, where they were chained below deck in ships for the journey across the Atlantic or Middle Passage, under conditions designed to ship the largest number of people in the smallest space possible. xref PART B: Which of the following quotations supports the answer to Part A? What was the Middle Passage like? In this manner, without scruple, are relations and friends separated, most of them never to see each other again. Equiano eventually purchased his freedom and lived in London where he advocated for abolition. 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. 4.8: Primary Source: Olaudah Equiano is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts. Constitution Avenue, NW 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. It emphasizes the inhumane conditions the slaves were forced to endure at the hands of European cruelty. 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)? You may use the written transcript to guide you. 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)? (London: Author, 1789), Vol. Corporate author : International Scientific Committee for the drafting of a General History of Africa Person as author : Ki-Zerbo, Joseph [editor] He is not writing it out of vanity or because he is one of the great men about whom people are accustomed to reading in memoirs. from my extreme youth I was not put in fetters. The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. Olaudah Equiano Recalls the Middle Passage Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797), known by people as Gustavus Vassa, was a freed slave turned prominent African man in London. They also made us jump, and pointed to the land, signifying we were to go there. Olaudah Equiano had been kidnapped from his family when he was 11 years old, carried off first to Barbados and then Virginia. A ) It suggests that sanitation on the ship was not as much a priority for the Europeans as was profit. This wretched situation was again aggravated by the galling of the chains, now become insupportable, and the filth of the necessary tubs, into which the children often fell, and were almost suffocated. 0000002907 00000 n The LibreTexts libraries arePowered by NICE CXone Expertand are supported by the Department of Education Open Textbook Pilot Project, the UC Davis Office of the Provost, the UC Davis Library, the California State University Affordable Learning Solutions Program, and Merlot. And sure enough, soon after we were landed, there came to us Africans of all languages. 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. . 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. 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? During our passage I first saw flying fishes, which surprised me very much: they used frequently to fly across the ship, and many of them fell on the deck. Many a time we were near suffocation, from the want of fresh air, which we were often without for whole days together. 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T. Hewes, A Retrospect of the Boston Tea-party, 1834, Thomas Paine Calls for American independence, 1776, Women in South Carolina Experience Occupation, 1780, Boston King recalls fighting for the British and for his freedom, 1798, Abigail and John Adams Converse on Womens Rights, 1776, Hector St. Jean de Crvecur Describes the American people, 1782, A Confederation of Native peoples seek peace with the United States, 1786, Mary Smith Cranch comments on politics, 1786-87, James Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments, 1785, George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796, Venture Smith, A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, 1798, Letter of Cato and Petition by the negroes who obtained freedom by the late act, in Postscript to the Freemans Journal, September 21, 1781, Black scientist Benjamin Banneker demonstrates Black intelligence to Thomas Jefferson, 1791, Creek headman Alexander McGillivray (Hoboi-Hili-Miko) seeks to build an alliance with Spain, 1785, Tecumseh Calls for Native American Resistance, 1810, Abigail Bailey Escapes an Abusive Relationship, 1815, James Madison Asks Congress to Support Internal Improvements, 1815, A Traveler Describes Life Along the Erie Canal, 1829, Maria Stewart bemoans the consequences of racism, 1832, Rebecca Burlend recalls her emigration from England to Illinois, 1848, Harriet H. Robinson Remembers a Mill Workers Strike, 1836, Alexis de Tocqueville, How Americans Understand the Equality of the Sexes, 1840, Missouri Controversy Documents, 1819-1920, Rhode Islanders Protest Property Restrictions on Voting, 1834, Black Philadelphians Defend their Voting Rights, 1838, Andrew Jacksons Veto Message Against Re-chartering the Bank of the United States, 1832, Frederick Douglass, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? 1852, Samuel Morse Fears a Catholic Conspiracy, 1835, Revivalist Charles G. Finney Emphasizes Human Choice in Salvation, 1836, Dorothea Dix defends the mentally ill, 1843, David Walkers Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, 1829, William Lloyd Garrison Introduces The Liberator, 1831, Angelina Grimk, Appeal to Christian Women of the South, 1836, Sarah Grimk Calls for Womens Rights, 1838, Henry David Thoreau Reflects on Nature, 1854, Nat Turner explains the Southampton rebellion, 1831, Solomon Northup Describes a Slave Market, 1841, George Fitzhugh Argues that Slavery is Better than Liberty and Equality, 1854, Sermon on the Duties of a Christian Woman, 1851, Mary Polk Branch remembers plantation life, 1912, William Wells Brown, Clotel; or, The Presidents Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States, 1853, Cherokee Petition Protesting Removal, 1836, John OSullivan Declares Americas Manifest Destiny, 1845, Diary of a Woman Migrating to Oregon, 1853, Chinese Merchant Complains of Racist Abuse, 1860, Wyandotte woman describes tensions over slavery, 1849, Letters from Venezuelan General Francisco de Miranda regarding Latin American Revolution, 1805-1806, President Monroe Outlines the Monroe Doctrine, 1823, Stories from the Underground Railroad, 1855-56, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Toms Cabin, 1852, Charlotte Forten complains of racism in the North, 1855, Margaraetta Mason and Lydia Maria Child Discuss John Brown, 1860, South Carolina Declaration of Secession, 1860, Alexander Stephens on Slavery and the Confederate Constitution, 1861, General Benjamin F. Butler Reacts to Self-Emancipating People, 1861, William Henry Singleton, a formerly enslaved man, recalls fighting for the Union, 1922, Ambrose Bierce Recalls his Experience at the Battle of Shiloh, 1881, Abraham Lincolns Second Inaugural Address, 1865, Freedmen discuss post-emancipation life with General Sherman, 1865, Jourdon Anderson Writes His Former Enslaver, 1865, Charlotte Forten Teaches Freed Children in South Carolina, 1864, General Reynolds Describes Lawlessness in Texas, 1868, A case of sexual violence during Reconstruction, 1866, Frederick Douglass on Remembering the Civil War, 1877, William Graham Sumner on Social Darwinism (ca.1880s), Henry George, Progress and Poverty, Selections (1879), Andrew Carnegies Gospel of Wealth (June 1889), Grover Clevelands Veto of the Texas Seed Bill (February 16, 1887), The Omaha Platform of the Peoples Party (1892), Dispatch from a Mississippi Colored Farmers Alliance (1889), Lucy Parsons on Women and Revolutionary Socialism (1905), Chief Joseph on Indian Affairs (1877, 1879), William T. Hornady on the Extermination of the American Bison (1889), Chester A. Arthur on American Indian Policy (1881), Frederick Jackson Turner, Significance of the Frontier in American History (1893), Turning Hawk and American Horse on the Wounded Knee Massacre (1890/1891), Helen Hunt Jackson on a Century of Dishonor (1881), Laura C. Kellogg on Indian Education (1913), Andrew Carnegie on The Triumph of America (1885), Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Lynch Law in America (1900), Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams (1918), Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper (1913), Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives (1890), Rose Cohen on the World Beyond her Immigrant Neighborhood (ca.1897/1918), William McKinley on American Expansionism (1903), Rudyard Kipling, The White Mans Burden (1899), James D. Phelan, Why the Chinese Should Be Excluded (1901), William James on The Philippine Question (1903), Chinese Immigrants Confront Anti-Chinese Prejudice (1885, 1903), African Americans Debate Enlistment (1898), Booker T. Washington & W.E.B. Olaudah Equiano wrote an account of the Middle Passage in his 1789 autobiography. Many merchants and planters now came on board, though it was in the evening. Equiano was born in Nigeria and was kidnapped into slavery at the age of eleven. True Nam lacinia pulvinar tortor nec facilisis. Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. I inquired of these what was to be done with us? 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. bracket: Conditions were harsh and cruel, and flogging was common. 0000007390 00000 n Himself, Olaudah Equiano, wrote the narrative of Olaudah Equiano. Equiano, who was also referred to as Gustavus Vassa the African, was terrified by his initial encounter of white men because of their "long hair", "red faces", and foreign language (Franklin and Higginbotham, 32). I was told they had. I had never experienced anything of this kind before, and, although not being used to the water, I naturally feared that element the first time I saw it, yet, nevertheless, could I have got over the nettings, I would have jumped over the side, but I could not; and besides, the crew used to watch us very closely who were not chained down to the decks, lest we should leap into the water; and I have seen some of these poor African prisoners most severely cut, for attempting to do so, and hourly whipped for not eating. They told me they did not, but came from a distant one. But this disappointment was the least of my sorrow. His pioneering narrative of the journey from slavery to freedom, a bestseller first published in London in 1789, builds upon the traditions of spiritual narratives and travel literature to help create the slave narrative genre. The clouds appeared to me to be land, which disappeared as they passed along. He uses figurative language to explain all the aspects of the ships in middle passage. 1789. 80 0 obj <>stream When he was about ten years old, he was kidnapped by Africans known as Aros and sold into slavery. published since 1788. I remember, in the vessel in which I was brought over, in the mens apartment, there were several brothers, who, in the sale, were sold in different lots; and it was very moving on this occasion, to see and hear their cries at parting. the Brooks carried 609 on a voyage in 1786. These questions are based on the accompanying primary sources. I had often with astonishment seen the mariners make observations with it, and I could not think what it meant. Often did I think many of the inhabitants of the deep much more happy than myself. From the 16th to the 19th centuries, approximately 12 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic as human property. Nam risus ante, dapibus a molestie consequat, ultrices ac magna. A long and uncomfortable trade route for slaves from Africa to the Americas; ships were packed with violent white men who watched the slaves every move. 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). After serving in the British navy, he was sold to a Quaker merchant from whom he purchased his freedom in 1766. PART B: Which paragraph provides the best support for the answer to Part A? 0000162310 00000 n I was exceedingly amazed at this account, and really thought they were spirits. 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. I therefore wished much to be from amongst them, for I expected they would sacrifice me; but my wishes were vain for we were so quartered that it was impossible for any of us to make our escape. 0000004361 00000 n I asked how the vessel could go? <]/Prev 754763>> What struck me first, was, that the houses were built with bricks, in stories, and in every other respect different from those I had seen in Africa; but I was still more astonished on seeing people on horseback. Without ventilation or sufficient water, about 15% grew sick and died. ur laoreet. The Middle Passage: The Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African: Problems in World History History as a Discipline Graphic of the Structure of History: Identify key vocabulary Create storyline or a summary Identify author Determine type of source Select and organize key ideas Post a reaction to Global Conference As you analyze the documents, take into account the source of each document and any point of view that may be presented in the document. #timeforchange Standard Study Word Study ELACC11-12RI6 Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly 0000192597 00000 n Image of Olaudah Equiano: Engraving by Daniel Orme, after W. Denton, 1789. 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? 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. Listen to a dramatic reading of his narrative, and then study the supporting primary sources to answer the discussion questions. Introduction"But is not the slave trade entirely a war with the heart of man? Africans in America/Part 1/Olaudah Equiano. During our passage, I first saw flying fishes, which surprised me very much; they used frequently to fly across the ship, and many of them fell on the deck. Taken from his country, robbed of his culture, and separated from his family 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. I was exceedingly amazed at this account, and really thought they were spirits. This made me fear these people the more; and I expected nothing less than to be treated in the same manner. 0000011301 00000 n 1, 7088. 0000005468 00000 n This was the first slave narrative to reveal such detailed effects on one victim of the slave trade and provides an interesting insight into a time where few people survived to . Many a time we were near suffocation from the want of fresh air, which we were often without for whole days together. He was the youngest son of seven brothers and sisters, and was trained in agriculture and war. This, and the stench of the necessary tubs, carried off many. Look at several garments in different price ranges in a store. This produced copious perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died, thus falling victims to the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of their purchasers. The volume also assesses the state of the field of Atlantic history and includes a spirited forum on Vincent Carretta's provocative thesis that Olaudah Equiano, author of the most important account available of the horrific Middle Passage, was actually born in South Carolina and not Africa. Public Domain. Must every tender feeling be likewise sacrificed to your avarice? Equiano eventually purchased his freedom and lived in London where he advocated for abolition. I then. Written by Himself (1789). Those of us that were the most active, were in a moment put down under the deck; and there was such a noise and confusion amongst the people of the ship as I never heard before, to stop her, and get the boat out to go after the slaves. To illustrate how much the slaves were torn from their own culture and forced into a brutal and unfamiliar one. 0000002609 00000 n During the afternoons, he and his siblings would keep watch for kidnappers who stole unattended village children to use as slaves. 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. Years later he was able to buy his freedom and became an This produced copious perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died thus falling victims to the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of their purchasers. They are designed to help you practice working with historical documents. 23 0 obj <> endobj . 0000070662 00000 n While we stayed on the coast I was mostly on deck; and one day, to my great astonishment, I saw one of these vessels coming in with the sails up. I therefore wished much to be from amongst them, for I expected they would sacrifice me; but my wishes were vain for we were so quartered that it was impossible for any of us to make our escape. . 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. Equiano doesn't relate this practice to his age or if he ever again saw his sister through the middle passage while unchained on deck. had they any like themselves? In this manner, without scruple, are relations and friends separated, most of them never to see each other again. I was told they had. The captives were about to embark on the infamous Middle Passage, so called because it was the middle leg of a three-part voyage -- a voyage that began and ended in Europe. The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there for any time, and some of us had been permitted to stay on the deck for the fresh air; but now that the whole ships cargo were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential. Brief Summary: The Life Of Olaudah Equiano's Life. 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. This indeed was often the case with myself. 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? Olaudah Equiano Recalls the Middle Passage 1789 Olaudah Equiano (17451797), also known as Gustavus Vassa, was born in Benin (in west Africa). Indeed, such were the horrors of my views and fears at the moment, that, if ten thousand worlds had been my own, I would have freely parted with them all to have exchanged my condition with that of the meanest slave in my own country. These filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror, when I was carried on board.
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