Harriet Jacobs and Olaudah Equiano
Alissa Wentzlaff
AP 11
Compare/Contrast Essay In the 1700s the United States economy thrived on the buying and selling of human beings. Although there are two sides to every story, most slaves were treated as nothing more than animals their whole life. Harriet Jacobs and Olaudah Equiano were both African Americans that were introduced into slavery at some point in their life. Jacobs believed that she lived a leisurely life for the time being, while Equiano lived through the pain and hardship of being kidnapped and made into a slave. Although Equiano and Jacobs were both slaves who believed that an enslaved life was not worth living, their introduction and upbringing into slavery, the way that they were treated by their masters and their perception of white people were profoundly diverse. Olaudah Equiano was born in the 1700’s in an African village. When he was eleven years old, Equiano and his sister were captured and sold to different slave masters throughout Africa to soon be boarded on a ship headed for the West Indies. When Equiano first boards the ship he explains, “[It]…filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror, when I was carried on board. I was immediately handled, and tossed up to see if I were sound, by some of the crew…”(McDougal 94). When Equiano starts to realize what was going on, he begins to become frightened by the people on the ship and soon understands that there is no hope for him. Equiano states, “I now saw myself deprived of all chance of returning to my native country, or even the least glimpse of gaining the shore, which I now considered as friendly…” (95). Equiano shows his readers that even though he doesn’t know exactly what he was about to endure for the rest of his life, he knows that there is no chance of him going back to his homeland end enjoying the life he once had. Equiano’s introduction to slavery was very similar to the way that many other African’s were brought into the world of slavery.
AP 11
Compare/Contrast Essay In the 1700s the United States economy thrived on the buying and selling of human beings. Although there are two sides to every story, most slaves were treated as nothing more than animals their whole life. Harriet Jacobs and Olaudah Equiano were both African Americans that were introduced into slavery at some point in their life. Jacobs believed that she lived a leisurely life for the time being, while Equiano lived through the pain and hardship of being kidnapped and made into a slave. Although Equiano and Jacobs were both slaves who believed that an enslaved life was not worth living, their introduction and upbringing into slavery, the way that they were treated by their masters and their perception of white people were profoundly diverse. Olaudah Equiano was born in the 1700’s in an African village. When he was eleven years old, Equiano and his sister were captured and sold to different slave masters throughout Africa to soon be boarded on a ship headed for the West Indies. When Equiano first boards the ship he explains, “[It]…filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror, when I was carried on board. I was immediately handled, and tossed up to see if I were sound, by some of the crew…”(McDougal 94). When Equiano starts to realize what was going on, he begins to become frightened by the people on the ship and soon understands that there is no hope for him. Equiano states, “I now saw myself deprived of all chance of returning to my native country, or even the least glimpse of gaining the shore, which I now considered as friendly…” (95). Equiano shows his readers that even though he doesn’t know exactly what he was about to endure for the rest of his life, he knows that there is no chance of him going back to his homeland end enjoying the life he once had. Equiano’s introduction to slavery was very similar to the way that many other African’s were brought into the world of slavery.