A Comparison between the Early African American Slaves Narratives and the Later One, Fredrick Douglass
Abstract
The main objective of this research is to investigate and compare how the lives of three African Americans in the eighteenth and the nineteenth century were impacted by religion and literacy. The three narratives analysed include those written by earlier African slaves, Ukawsaw Gronniosaw (1705-1775) and Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797), and African American Frederick Douglass (1818-1895). Gronniosaw and Equiano were captured as slaves from Africa but Fredrick Douglass was born into slavery on America soil. To achieve the set objectives, history about the three individuals are analysed in detail to get a first-person perspective regarding their lives in Africa, America, and Britain. Eventually, it was realised that Frederick Douglass went through different experiences compared to Equiano and Gronniosaw. As a result, Douglass felt that freedom was more important than faith and hence, viewed religion with contempt compared to the other two earlier African Americans. In terms of literacy, Douglass experienced challenges in obtaining his education since his masters advocated for slave illiteracy. On the contrary, Equiano and Gronniosaw were taught to read and write by their masters who took them to school. The narratives by the three writers, which encouraged the abolitionist struggle, became a lifeblood of African American literature because of their compelling autobiographic motif. In order to understand the lives of the three Africans Americans, their experiences were discussed in two main sections of religion and literacy.
Keywords: Equiano, Douglass, Africa.
A Comparison between the Early African American Slaves Narratives and the Later One, Fredrick Douglass
Introduction
From early as 18th
century to the present times, numerous narratives has been written and published regarding the lives of early African slaves. The current project aims to analyze three narratives written by Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, Olaudah Equiano, and Frederick Douglass with the objective of pinpointing the similarities and differences in the lives of African Americans in the 18th Century and 19th Century. In this case, the three narrators will be referred to African American as they wrote the narratives after they were feed from slavery. The specific objectives of the study include determining the role of the literary efforts by Gronniosaw, Equiano, and Douglass in the abolition of slave trade in the eighteenth and the nineteenth century. The main points of comparison will entail impact of religion in their lives and how education shaped their lives. Gronniosaw, Equiano, and Douglass represent the different groups of slaves which existed in the U.S. In particular, the three people experience contrasting treatment from their masters which influenced their perspective regarding religion and literacy. Still, one remarkable issue among the three is that despite their earlier lives as slaves, they worked towards achieving their freedom. Their tenacity in the face of adversity is a critical issue that is not found in other slave narratives.
Part A: Religion
Ukawsaw Gronniosaw
Ukawsaw Gronniosaw was born in the city of Bournou, Guinea before he was taken into slavery. Gronniosaw is regarded as African American because he gained freedom later in his life and acquired American citizenship. In his native culture, he worshipped created things such as the moon, stars, and the sun. Gronniosaw describes the activities of their Sabbath as consisting of kneeling down in silence with the hands raised up until the sun was up at a certain height (Gates, Louis, and Andrews, 32). He describes the experience of keeping the Sabbath day of worship as “labour under anxieties and fears” (Gronniosaw, 2). Consequently, there is an expression of unhappiness and dissatisfaction with the form of religion due to the element of fear and anxiety expressed by Gronniosaw. According to Gronniosaw, “there was some Great Man of power which resided above the sun, moon and stars” (Gronniosaw, 1). The answers to his questions began when he is sold to a Christian Dutch Master who was a ship captain. While aboard the ship, Ukawsaw Gronniosaw sees and hears the captain read the scriptures to the crew. Afterward, Gronniosaw, the African prince is sold to Vanhom at Barbadoes. The new master resided in New-England, New York City. At Vanhom’s house, he met an old black man who warned him about the existence of the Devil who takes people to hell. Unfortunately, the family were not Christian believers and were offended by the mentioning of God and matters of hell.
Later, Gronniosaw got a new master, Mr. Freelandhouse, a devout Christian who prayed for him every night and morning while on his knees (Gronniosaw 12). It was at this time and place that Gronniosaw was introduced to the knowledge of God. He was pleased to hear that God lived in heaven and is great such that he created all things all over the world, including those items back in Africa (Gronniosaw 12). Therefore, the change of religion from African traditions to Christianity gave Gronniosaw comfort as opposed to the unresolved mysteries of his previous religion. Certainly, the information received from Christianity served as a satisfactory agent for a life that has been empty since birth with thoughts of the existence of some superior power than the sun, moon and stars. Gronniosaw narrates that, “I was only glad that I had been told there was a God because I had always thought so” (Gronniosaw 13). Moreover, Gronniosaw turned his life to God and was ever grateful even in the times of trouble and poverty. He lost interest in the worldly things and became heavenly focused as he says, “I felt an unwillingness in myself to have anything more to do with the world, or to mix with society again” (Gronniosaw 18). However, Gronniosaw appreciates the change of religion which made him more fulfilled in the spirit and gave him the reason for living despite his status as a slave.
When Gronniosaw reached England, he expected to find Christians who were gentle, good, and meek. However, he is met by people who curse and swear (Henry, 371). Although later on, he experienced friendly treatment, Gronniosaw endured few cases of mistreatment from white Christian slave owners who sometimes threatened to kill him for lack of cooperation (Henry 365). For instance, in his autobiography, Gronniosaw writes, “…I met with many enemies, one of them a white sailor who studied ways to vex and tease me. One circumstance he snatched the book I was very fond of and threw it into the sea.” (Gronniosaw, 21). Clearly, this shows that Gronniosaw experienced a rather subtle form of mistreatment which is elusive to pin down since it consisted of a demeaning comment, a slander, or a minor act of embarrassment. In fact, he is defrauded of his money and watch (Granniosaw, 24). From the highlight, it is realised that the mistreatment of Granniosaw was done by his aggressor to amuse themselves rather than out of anger or revenge. To the white Christian owners, Granniosaw is a property that they are “allowed” to mistreat and abuse. White Christians had the tendency to believe that they are always superior, and no matter what harm theyin this case, cause to a black man, he is just a slave or rather a half human. This type of treatment differs with the other narratives in that blacks were given a chance to express themselves and regarded with some level of respect. Therefore, there is a difference between the accounts recorded by the African-Amarican slaves. Gronniosaw’s mistreatment was due to his devotion to Christianity. In contrast with the Equiano and Douglass, Gronniosaw’s masters took advantage of his religion beliefs to induce mistreatment to him.
Gronniosaw witnessed other blacks being punished so as to convert to Christianity. Mr. Whitefield, is a slave owner conceded that slaves should be subjected to torture, including body mutilation to help in their salvation (Henry, 369). Although he did not like the way other slaves were punished, Gronniosaw was more concerned in knowing God, hence, it did not matter which was the way to salvation (Costanzo, 50). The knowledge of God and the judgment that was to come upon sinners impacted the course of Gronniosaw’ life to begin seeking for something better than his sinful state. He started looking for a redeemer, especially following the sermon by Mr. Freelandhouse on Revelation 1:7 about the coming of the Lord and those who pierced him shall mourn because of him. Ukawsaw Gronniosaw was searching for a way to be saved, an action described by his schoolmaster as “enquiring the way to Zion” (Gronniosaw, 16). Finally, Gronniosaw got his way to salvation in Christ Jesus and embraced a prayerful life to the unseen God rather than the Sun, moon, and stars as was the trend in Africa (Edwards, Geoffrey, and Dabydeen 14). He testifies, “It was the highest pleasure I ever experienced to set under this Oak; for there I used to pour out all my complaints to the LORD” (Gronniosaw, 17). Again, “I was then quite alone and my heart lifted up to GOD, and I was enabled to pray continually; and blessed forever be his Holy Name, he faithfully answer'd my prayers” (Gronniosaw, 17). This implies that Gronniosaw believed that mental and physical suffering is a Christian’s way to know God.
According to Henry, Gronniosaw did not receive good treatment because of his decision to change religious background. An example of the white Christian mistreatment is revealed to Gronniosaw when his daughter died and the local ministers declined to bury her because she was not baptised. In spite of the fact that Gronniosaw’s family were supported by the kindness of a Quaker, Henry Gurdney, Gronniosaw could not get him to convince the local ministers —or rather the white Christian society— to bury her (371). The mistreatment he faces makes him wonder how such deceit and wickedness could exist among the Christians in Portsmouth, England. However, Gronniosaw believed that it is a biblical ideology that the faithful will be rewarded and the unfaithful punished. After Gronniosaw was freed, he experienced different negative and positive mode of treatments. On negative treatment, he was being discouraged to marry a white woman as the natives were not happy with black people intermarrying with white to avoid black subjectivity in Europe (Finseth, 2013). Looking critically at Gronniosaw’s life, it is realised that he did not focus much attention to mistreatment because he was consumed by Christianity and a deep desire to know God’s word. Unlike Fredrick Douglass, Gronniosaw viewed mistreatment as a challenge in his spiritual life which he had to overcome through other ways other than defiance or rebellion to his masters. To him, obedience to his master was a sign of being a good Christian and that made his master like him and even educate him. As such, it gets clear that religion in Gronniosaw life was fundamental in shaping his tender behavior towards his master and viewing servanthood in a positive light.
Olaudah Equiano
In a similar manner, Olaudah Equiano describes how he encountered Christianity after being taken away as a slave from Aboe, Nigeria. It is in England where he meets Christianity as a new religion. Like Ukawsaw Gronniosaw , Olaudah Equiano is introduced to “a great man in the heavens, called god who made such things as snow” (Equiano 105). Through the knowledge of the superior power above all, Equiano’s life changes and he begins to focus on seeking and serving this God. He is totally disconnected from the African form of worship which consisted of sacrifices and burnt-offerings. Equiano would later attest, “I might say my sufferings were great: but when I compare my lot with that of most of my countrymen, I regard myself as a particular favorite of Heaven, and acknowledge the mercies of Providence in every occurrence of my life” (Equiano, 3).
When it comes to Christian’s mistreatment, Equiano mostly suffered from mental and physical abuses. At first, the white Christians sailors who justified slavery had kidnaped him along with his sister to Barbados where they were mercilessly tortured by the white sailors (West Indies). Then, the slave traders separated him from his sister by selling each individually. The ill-treatment continued through beating him after his refusal to eat. It is important to note that at first, Equiano was ignorant and the whites took that as an advantage to mistreat him. He depicts how he was given liquor to drink not knowing its effects. His ignorance also led him to be put down on the decks and be beaten on the face mercilessly. In a different scenario, he is beaten after failing to remember a name, Gustavus Vassa, given to him by his masters (Marren, 99). In addition, Equiano portrays ignorance when he thinks that a watch hung on the chimney tower could see and report him to his master. Certainly, such a fearful thought can only emanate from previous incidences of mistreatment which made Equiano feel inferior and afraid of his Christian master. Therefore, his fear of his master takes a massive part of his “Christian” life. Even when Equiano got his freedom, he was entirely marginal, that is, he was neither a slave nor a free person (Marren, 95). The narrative depicts that freed individuals were subjected to vulnerable ways of threats and non-recognition in the white community. This is justified by Equiano’s narrative that after baptism, his master vowed to sell him although he was freed. According to the narrative, it is crucial to note that the reason behind Equiano’s conversion to Christianity is due to his fear of merciless treatment (Equiano 99). For instance, Equiano recounts, “A black who had run from his master got himself christened with the intent of marrying a white woman” (Equiano 99). Clearly, this shows that accepting Christianity brought with it some privileges among the slaves. The white community was not practicing the actual Christian beliefs, hence, they were exercising a “costumed” Christianity in order to justify their crucial actions toward slaves.
After becoming a Christian, Equiano considered religion a crucial aspect of his life. In fact, it shaped the way he viewed and did business later in his life. To Equiano, religion was the key source of happiness and not money or riches. Although he engaged in trade to acquire money that he was able to buy freedom from his master, Equiano was never interested in accumulating more wealth than was necessary. Still, it is his Christian faith which motivated him towards getting out of slavery and gaining economic freedom since he recognized that God created all men free and Christ came to set the captives free. While doing business, Equiano encountered some customers who refused to pay their debts after being delivered goods. In the narrative, Equiano notes “I was giving however but very indifferent payment” (Equiano 95). Instead of seeking revenge or taking a more stun action, Equiano forgave the debtors due to his strong Christian morals which advocates for mercy. Most of the time, Equiano lay his trust that God will deliver judgment on his debtors and punish them in the afterlife. At one point, Equiano notes, “Is not this one common and crying sin enough to bring down God’s judgement on the islands? He tells us the oppressor and the oppressed are both in his hands” (Equiano 97). Clearly, Equiano’s faith in God enabled him to endure the different mistreatment and injustices done to him without letting himself slide to violence or anger. However, this attitude also limited Equiano’s ability to grow his trade since to him, Christianity came first then wealth and other worldly issues followed.
The change of religion certainly created a totally new meaning in the lives of the two early African American ex-slaves such that the religion of Christianity impacted their lives positively since it removed them from ignorance to a place of understanding of divine power and providence. As such Equiano praises the European culture and Christianity in his statement to the parliament of Great Britain by saying, “…but these, through the mysterious ways of Providence, I ought to regard as infinitely more than compensated by the introduction I have, thence obtained to the knowledge of the Christian religion, and of a nation which, by its liberal sentiments, its humanity, the glorious freedom of its government,……” (Marren,95). Although Gronniosaw and Equiano were slaves, they found a sense of freedom in talking to God and developed a different attitude altogether of their captivity. To them, it was God’s own will for them to leave the African countries so that they might find the truth and wait upon the creator of the heavens and earth. Remarkably, their desire for Christianity is what influenced the action of educating them. In the case of Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, he was taken to school by his master Mr. Freelandhouse after noticing his love and desire for God. To a large extent, joining Christianity also made the two early African Americans slaves to become more passive in their fight against slavery. Although they recognized the fundamental truth of universal human freedom in the scripture, they also learned that God’s way is peaceful and not violent. As such, they were inspired to work and purchase their freedom from their masters rather than rebel and escape.
Comparison with Frederick Douglass
Granniosaw and Equiano viewed Christianity religion as something that would genuinely improve their social standing and enable them live better. On the contrary, Douglass viewed Christianity with disdain and contempt due to the hypocrisy demonstrated by some of those who practiced it. Douglass failed to reconcile the words of freedom and equality expressed in the bible and the harsh treatment and slavery propagated by those who preached the gospel. At the beginning of the narrative, Douglass depicts that he lacked motherly love as he barely knew his mother. The narrative indicates that Douglass was born to a slave mother who he met five times. When she died, Douglass experienced another mode of unjustified treatment by being denied the right to attend her funeral (Douglass and Blassingame 45). Additionally, as a young boy aged seven, in the fields, Douglass witnessed other slaves being severely punished. One instance is witnessing his aunt being whipped by his Christian master, accused of chatting with another slave from a different plantation. Worse still, the slaves are even murdered and the owners go free without repercussions and no one is held accountable. In addition, Douglass narrates that slaves, including children, were subjected to hunger by being denied food and water. This treatment does not reflect the Christianity of Christ, rather it reflects the Southerners who were practicing their religion, superiority, and false ideologies toward African Americans. Therefore, Douglass started asking himself whether equality and justice exists in Christianity Through his narrative, Frederick Douglass questions his masters’ Christianity practices; whether it is the Christianity of Christ or the South.
Within years of ill-treatment, Frederick Douglass became aware of discrimination. His knowledge makes him become aware of slavery’s evils and the existence of an “act of abolishing” (Douglass 41). Douglass was very bitter that the slaves were severely punished. He vowed to abolish slavery by teaching his other black slave colleagues how to read and write. The other instance of cruelty and mistreatment in Douglass’ life is when his grandmother became sick and is left in the woods to die. Douglass gets damaged emotionally and develops the resolve to escape slavery at all costs. It is the disregard of slave families in Douglass narrative that causes pain and makes the reader empathize with Douglass more. Because of what he reads in the Bible, Douglass is aware that the treatment his people are receiving, is just unfair nor equal.
According to Ukawsaw Gronniosaw and Olaudah Equiano, Christianity as a religion contributed to their way to freedom through the hands of loving masters who were also believers. However, Frederick Douglass holds a contrary opinion when he narrates his experiences to the anti-slavery society. Repeatedly, Douglass maintained that during the slavery period, two types of Christianity were practiced in the U.S. One was a false version which promoted white supremacy and encouraged suppression of slaves. The other was the genuine version which spread the biblical values of freedom, forgiveness, and gentleness.
In his autobiography, Douglass maintained that freedom should precede faith, and hence, quoted from Exodus as God sent Moses to Pharaoh to say, “…let my people go that they may serve me” (Mclnerney 384), but not to say, “Tell my people to serve me that they may go free” (Mclnerney 384). This meant that the groups interested in introducing the black slaves to Christianity were first supposed to grant their freedom as, “…there can be no obedience to the Bible without freedom” (Mclnerney 384). Clearly, Douglass was pointing out through his words that the efforts to distribute Bibles to captives were of less significance since the holy book was, “the companion of liberty. It belongs to a new order of things” (Mclnerney, 382). Therefore, as the early narrators give positive influence of the Bible and Christianity on abolition, Frederick Douglass takes a separated stand with an in-depth truth on the matter by suggesting freedom before faith. As such, the experience of Ukawsaw Gronniosaw and Olaudah Equiano of believing Jesus while still bound in slavery was a mistake according to Douglass. For the abolitionist, the knowledge of God and Biblical truth changed his view on slavery and his journey was diverted to begin refuting the white counterparts who had a Bible for slavery opinion.
In his slavery life, Gronniosaw suffered less compared to Douglass as his masters were Calvinists where they encouraged him to join. On the other hand, although Douglass’ master claimed to be Christians, they hated his Sabbath church where at one time they broke and destroyed his Sabbath school. Therefore, Douglass consistently portrays the slave masters to be dishonest. He gives an impression of an honest testament of the conditions of slavery and sidesteps the emotional excesses commonly found in the slave narratives (Matlack, 20). Douglass was not ignorant compared to Gronniosaw and Equiano, rather, he was clever as he desired to learn more about abolitionism. Douglass’ determination to learn made him endure more punishment more compared to other slave narratives. As Douglass writes, most of his owners were mean and they often treated him like trash by whipping him. On the other hand, Gronniosaw and Equiano’s owners were gentle and cared for them. Although Equiano was not really freed after being baptised, he endured less suffering compared to when he was a slave. On the other hand, after several attempts, Douglass managed to free himself by escaping from Blatimore to New York where he married his wife Anna in a church. It is also during the period that he began to attend church and even became a preacher in African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in 1839. The religious experience greatly strengthened his resolved to fight slavery and he began to set up abolitionist meetings.
While Gronniosaw and Equiano remained in the hands of slave masters even after baptism in loyalty and obedience as Paul preaches in his Epistles, Douglass was convinced that “…the Bible, at its core, advanced a gospel of freedom” (Harrill 2000, 160). During his life as a slave, Frederick was denied the privilege of reading the Bible by his master Hugh Auld who argued that the ability to read the scripture would spoil even the best slave. As a result, he held the bible in higher esteem compared to Gronniosaw or Equiano since he had been heavily oppressed for a long time and wanted to experience the spiritual liberty that flowed from the scriptures. Hence, Douglass was dismayed when his master Auld become even harsher and inhumane after experiencing religion in a Methodist camp-meeting he attended (Douglass, 53). He realised that instead of Christianity softening Auld and making him more considerate of the slaves, it achieved the reverse. This made Douglass resent the false Christianity which was propagated by the slave-owners and increased his resolved to fight slavery at all costs. In yet another instance, when Douglass was living with his master Mr. Covey, he was given “a severe whipping, cutting my back, causing blood to run, and raising ridges on my flesh as large as my little fingers” (Douglass 20). The irony is that Mr. Covey was a leader at Methodist church who was expected to dispense mercy or at least humanely administer punishment. Such incidences reinforced the idea in the mind of Douglass that the Christianity religion preached by slave-owners was hypocritical and toxic. Still, Olaudah Equiano, Ukawsaw Gronniosaw , and Frederick Douglass all appreciated the positive impact of Christianity religion in their lives. Additionally, the new religion was the way to the salvation of their sinful souls that did not acknowledge God at first. Finally, having believed, they traveled from place to place giving testimony, serving their masters and later secured freedom.
From the narrative, Douglass does not talk about other people’s religion. However, he says that there is a difference between slaveholding religion and religion of Christ. The slaveholding religion is corrupt and treated him unjustly. In addition, Douglass criticizes slave owner’s cruel and hypocritical Christianity behaviors (Desantis 34). He tells a story that although slave owners were Christians, they would unjustly whip slaves while quoting scriptures from the Bible. Douglass found self-righteous behavior not conferring with the biblical commandments. As narrated, Douglass freed himself by escaping to New York, on September 3, 1838 (92). Despite the excitement of being free, Douglass was worried he might be captured by “man-hunters” who might take him back to his owners.
Part B: Literacy
Ukawsaw Gronniosaw
Having come from Africa without any intellectual knowledge, Ukawsaw Gronniosaw and Olaudah Equiano managed to finally express themselves in English through speaking and writing. Being a grandson of the King, he was engraved into the tradition of the land having only the literature of dances, songs, and rituals. From the Gold Coast of Guinea where he was taken by a merchant due to his spiritual unrest, Gronniosaw is sold as a slave to a Dutch ship captain. He narrates his condition of knowing not to read when he sees his master read the Bible to the sheep crew and suggests that the book was speaking audibly back. In fact, he went ahead to open the book and place close to his ears with the hope that it could say something to him. Unfortunately, the Bible failed to utter any word. This shows how ignorant Gronniosaw was to the matters of reading and writing. In England where he served Vanhorn, Gronniosaw confesses that he learnt the first English words through fellow servants. He narrates, “but the servants us'd to curse and swear surprisingly; which I learnt faster than anything, 'twas almost the first English I could speak” (Gronniosaw 11). At least for that moment, he had learnt to speak English and could express his feelings of anger, annoyance, displeasure, and dissatisfaction by uttering curses upon the offenders.
Being innocent and having no other means of communication, Gronniosaw utilised the little he learnt from the servants even to rebuke his mistress when she cursed a servant. This tendency opened a way of being sold to Mr. Freelandhouse who introduces him to school. However, before during his first stay with his new master Gronniosaw states that “I could hardly speak English to be understood” (Gronniosaw 12). When taken to school, he describes how he hated going there to learn. This tells vividly how he was resistant to change brought through education. As such, it is true that education as a whole was a challenging experience for Gronniosaw and probably most of the slaves of his time. It was difficult to incorporate the western literature into the native African mindset that saw no significance of words, sentences, and grades. Overall, the challenges of education helped to harden Ukawsaw Gronniosaw as he realised that to survive, he had to adjust to his new environment and assimilate rather than isolate himself. Nevertheless, he continued on through the persuasion of his master and mistress and the gentleness of the school teacher. Gronniosaw then learned how to read and write. He could now understand the Bible as well as the words used in prayer. At this point, it is noted that education helped Gronniosaw to build his spiritual life as he was able to read the biblical scriptures on his own. Additionally, he could later work and count money, though he could not value it properly. Still, this was a positive step towards achieving economic freedom.
Later Ukawsaw Gronniosaw worked at various positions in England, Holland, and Norwich. However, from the manner in which the writer presented the story of Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, it depicts that he had problems with pronunciations and spellings. For instance, the name of his native land is spelled as Bournou instead of Borno and the Christian master who ministered Jesus to him is referred to as Mr. Freelandhouse while the real name should be Mr. Frelinghuysen. In relation to how the narrative is written, there is a clear indication that Gronniosaw’s language was not perfect enough as that of the Europeans such that he found it difficult to interact freely with the whites. The impact of Gronniosaw’s flawed speech and writings in English is that he could not secure good or permanent jobs at the time. In addition, he could not influence other slaves to stand up against slavery since his communication skills were limited.
Moreover, Gronniosaw points out at some point that he could not read English properly and sought someone to read his letter. “As I could not read English, I was obliged to apply to someone to read the letter I received” (Gronniosaw, 32). Clearly, Gronniosaw language was not developed well enough to make him fit in the European society since he was unable to read English and had someone else read for him the letter. Still, the little education Granniosaw possessed had a profound impact on his life as he was able to travel on his own to different cities and stop relying on his owners. He leads a humble life despite having attained freedom, become a Christian and marrying a white woman. Gronniosaw could only fit in odd informal jobs which paid so little. For him, education only influenced his spiritual life for the better by understanding the Bible.
Ukawsaw Gronniosaw narrative is considered the first autobiography published by an African in Britain. According to Finseth, Gronniosaw was one of the writers who was accepted into British literature which the source attributes to the fact that Gronniosaw’s book promoted proslavery ideologies (2013). His narrative reflects how the early African slaves were ignorant and devoted to their masters in their slavery. His narrative also acknowledges the role that religion played during the eighteenth century and how slave traders and masters, as well as black writers such as Gronniosaw, used religion to justify their slavery-related actions. Gronniosaw’s admiration toward his masters indicates how well he was manipulated by his white masters under the name of religion —he had not recognised their treatment because he basically influenced by them. He was pressurised into adopting how religion was practiced upon him, how Christians justified slavery to him, and by the amount of luxury he found in the New World compared to Africa; including food and clothes.
Olaudah Equiano
On the other hand, the life of Olaudah Equiano was influenced somehow more effectively compared to Ukawsaw Gronniosaw. It is through Lieutenant Pascal, one of his masters, that he gets to England and starts schooling with the help of Miss Guerins. Although his learning process is not steady due to consistent work at sea with Pascal, Equiano was determined and so continued studying wherever he
