Preview

Difference Between Colonial Americano And Equiano

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1334 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Difference Between Colonial Americano And Equiano
The heavy scarcities that the people of the Colonial Era (1492-1763) faced were relieved with the foundation and development of human labor, which, depending on a person’s distinct appearance and social backgrounds, progressed differently throughout the regions of Colonial America. Two individuals have been highlighted to differentiate between the upbringing of human labor: Mary Jemison and Olaudah Equiano. Each individual had been transported to separate regions of Colonial America from their origin countries to participate in labor. With discrete past lives, each person had acquired a different assimilation into their new culture, emphasizing the extents of impact that labor in America had dealt. Without the establishment of Colonial American …show more content…
Equiano was mainly stationed as a worker of maritime services. He worked in and around sailing ships in various destinations under European authority. After enduring the hardships of a number of past masters, Equiano had received graciousness in the form of a kind-hearted Captain of the Quaker religion named Robert King. Under King, Equiano was treated with the utmost respect and was not sold to any other masters due to King’s fondness of him. The labor that Equiano partook in was syncopated with King’s household and work affairs. Equiano was trusted with responsibilities that would normally be insane for a man of black skin to have, such as “receiving and delivering cargo [to] ships” and grooming King’s countenance (Equiano 202). This labor had molded Equiano into a person with Europeanized gestures, knowledge and culture. Equiano’s unusual but fortunate ascension from slavery had begun a new breed of Africans that mirrored the tendencies of the white population through the labor he had received which were usually tasks saved for white men. However, Equiano still had lingering trauma from when he was shipped to the Americas as a slave product. During his sailing time, Equiano had observed the suicides of two slaves preferring death to a lifetime of slavery, which had built up his fear over the terrors and barbarities that the Africans in America were to undergo (Equiano 81). The hardships of the slave’s labor had instilled fright and depression into the hearts of Equiano and his people so even though there were a number of Africans who had gotten out of the grasp of servitude, most Africans in the Colonial Period held negativity towards slavery as an economical foundation. Today, these grudges against such labor have become weapons arguing against racism towards blacks which justifies Colonial America’s engraving of slavery as a building block in the growth

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Equiano’s autobiography is a direct and diplomatic plea to the royal class in England for the abolition of slavery. In a letter directed to the Parliament of Great Britain he writes “May the God of Heavens inspire your hearts with peculiar benevolence on that important day when the question of Abolition is to be discussed, when thousands in consequence of your determination, are to look for happiness or misery!” (The Classic Slave Narratives, page 18).…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Equiano Study Guide

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Describes the terrible conditions of the journey to the Americas and how Equiano survived it while others died or committed suicide…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The impressions of the people they met were different. Equiano had a horrible encounter with the slave traders on the ship he was on. He mentioned, “Every circumstance I met with, served only to render my state more painful, and heightened my apprehensions,…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavas Vassa, the African, Written by Himself, not only displays triumph over oppression, an attribute that is hailed as the cornerstone of a model American, but chronicles the beginning point of Americas change in attitude towards ethnic exclusion by discrimination.Interestingly Equiano spent most of his life in America as a slave and it is probable that Equiano wouldn’t consider himself in any fashion as an American. According to the “Norton Anthology of American Literature,”…

    • 240 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano”, by Olaudah Equiano, is a narrative about a slave going to the new world. Olaudah Equiano was kidnapped by slave traders to be sent to the New World to be sold to other slave owners. This slave trade between Africa and North America was from 1619-1807 and carried hundreds of African men, women, and children in one tightly packed ship. In “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano”, Equiano describes the horrible conditions slaves were forced to endure on the voyage to the new world. Equiano wrote this slave narrative, a literary work that exposes the horrors of slavery through the first hand experience of the writer, to help abolish slavery. To assist in persuading the…

    • 194 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano presented English identity as the epitome of modernity, and the mark of cultural maturity. Rather than being a set racial or national identity Equiano portrayed englishness as an achievable goal, even for a racially black man. The Narrative intentionally depicted Equiano’s transformation from African boy to Englishman a positive change. Through the portrayal of his life as a struggle to become an Englishman; and his telling of a willing adoption of anglican religion, cultural values, and economic sensibilities, Olaudah Equiano purposefully appealed to the paternalistic nature of the English in order to advocate for the abolition of slavery.…

    • 383 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    If you know of great abolitionists, you may know of the names Frederick Douglass and Olaudah Equiano. These two men went beyond the odds, becoming famous writers even through slavery’s drastic conditions. Looking at their narratives, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” and “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African,” we learn how each of them were brought up through the pains of American Slavery. Frederick Douglass was born a slave and a master, quickly taken away from his mother to only know her as a stranger. Equiano, however, was stolen from his native country, forced to face a treacherous expedition to America.…

    • 929 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Olaudah Equiano Slavery

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Slaves, in general, endured unthinkable things while, on the Middle Passage Ship to the Americas as well as their duration in slavery, Olaudah Equiano was no different. After reading Olaudah Equiano’s, article “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African”. Slavery affected many lives. Most importantly, as any slave it was additionally agonizing to live in that period. Through Equiano’s eleven-year-old eyes, his voyage was extremely devastating.…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Olaudah Equiano

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “ I might say my sufferings were great; but when I compare my lot with that of most of my country men, I regard myself as a particular favorite of heaven….” This essay will discuss information about Olaudah Equiano’s early life, life as an author, and his connection to the Colonial Period.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Olaudah Equiano Dishonesty

    • 1083 Words
    • 5 Pages

    He was an accomplished businessman, a world traveler, an able sea hand, a former slave, a powerful abolitionist, a best-selling author, the husband of a British woman, and even the father of three daughters. Yet the debate of whether or not he is a credible, reliable source lives on. Even if Equiano did create a false childhood in The Interesting Narrative, the effects of what he created were tremendous. There is much more to Equiano than where he was born. Literary critics and historians alike should hail Equiano for the positive effect he had on African history, instead of tearing him apart for using falsehoods to end the slave…

    • 1083 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    equiano olaudah

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages

    While being in slavery for almost his whole youth life, he always had the desire to be free, he knew that one day he was going to be a free colored man and that thought kept him fighting through those years in slavery. Even while Equiano was in slavery he worked very hard for his master, and his master appreciated that and he gave him different opportunities that helped him save up for his freedom life. Even though back in his time if you were a colored man you were treated horribly but Equiano took advantage of his masters kindness and worked hard. But, Equiano didn’t want to live as a slave for the rest of his life and his savings were looking good so he decided that he would escape the slavery life.…

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Equiano Characteristics

    • 1397 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Equiano, as far as slaves go, was very lucky. Very few slaves of that time were treated as kindly as Equiano and throughout his years of enslavement he continually got passed from one kind master to another kind master. Equiano 's continued good fortune can be traced to two good fortunes. The first would be being too young to get sold saving him from the likely fate of becoming a west indies plantation slave. The second lucky instance was having Captain Pascal spot Equiano and like him enough to buy him and have him work on the ship with him. Having Pascal become is master ultimately led to his education, good skill sets, baptism, good work ethic, and his positive reputation. These traits set him apart from the other common slaves…

    • 1397 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Olaudah Equiano

    • 562 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Olaudah Equiano’s story made much more of an impact on me than any of the other stories. Equiano plays on people’s sentiments and morals by using rhetorical devices: ethos and pathos. His story appeals to me because I cannot conceive what it would be like to be persecuted and enslaved just because of the color of one’s skin, a trait that they cannot help. Because of the well-executed practice of rhetorical devices, I can imagine the trip of the Middle Passage, aboard the ship myself.…

    • 562 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Equiano is from Nigeria and had his home broken into by two African men and a woman. He was kidnapped alongside his sister until they were split up. Equiano was sold to many African masters as he moved closer to the west coast. He was afraid of the white people who he had never encountered before. On the ship filled with African men, women, and children some were dying and groaning in agony.…

    • 1779 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Olaudah Equiano

    • 2273 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Equiano argues that the slave trade in his culture uses slaves that are convicted of “heinous” crimes or are “only prisoners of war,” whereas the Britons practice kidnapping as the main mode of obtaining slaves (Equiano 3). By describing the slaves from his homeland as criminals or enemies, he is minimizing the value of their lives and makes it seem less harsh than the capture of British slaves, but he is using the same reasoning as the Briton do to validate their participation in the slave trade. Additionally, he refers to them as “fellow creatures,” which dehumanizes the captured people and takes them to even a lower level below the criminals (Equiano 5). Additionally, he makes comparisons to the “condition” of treatment for his country’s slaves “from that of the slaves in the West Indies!” (Equiano 4). He is comparing how the British who are considered enlightened, treat their slaves like animals and looks to them as disposable property; whereas, his society gives their slaves enough respect to treat them humanely in a civilized manner. He tries to make slavery in his homeland seem less oppressive by describing the slaves as doing “no more work than any other member of the community” and “their food, clothing, and lodging” were basically the same as everyone else (Equiano 5). He stresses that some of the slaves “have even slaves under them as their own property,” which ignores the fact that these people are still enslaved and are there against their free will. Equiano fails to denounce the participation in the slave trade in his homeland and uses class status as an excuse for slaveholding. Interestingly, he does not argue for the freedom of the slaves in this section, but focuses only on the brutal treatment of them. He questions why the ancestors of the Britons who were…

    • 2273 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays