Former slave Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano penned narratives and an autobiography that exposed the brutality of slavery. He stated that he was born in what is now Nigeria, where as a young child he had been kidnapped and sold. On a ship that was leaping towards his new existence, he went through the middle passage. He detailed the slave's trip from Africa to England and America, how slavery in West Africa was different from that in America, and his journey to freedom and Christianity in his narratives. After only a brief sojourn in Barbados, Equiano was transported to Virginia by ship. Later he earned his freedom and attempted to influence the Parliament for the abolition of slavery.
Mistreatment of slaves
Equiano argued that mistreating slaves resulted in less work rather than if they were treated like normal human beings. He said that in Barbados, an estimate of 1,000 black people was required every year for them to maintain their original stock which was 80,000 black people. Clearly, this was bad for business on their side since they lost a lot on restocking slaves. The life expectancy of a slave in Barbados was sixteen years. This was mostly as a result of cruelty and partially due to climate. Slave owners ignored the conditions of pregnant women and forced the slaves to build in places where the climate was not conducive thus resulting to diseases (Cameron, Ann, and Olaudah Equiano 1995, 78). Slaves were often severely punished for slight mistakes and female slave's chastity violated. All these acts led to high mortality rates of the slaves.
Treatment by a kind master
Equiano admitted that not all masters were cruel, some of them were nice to their slaves. After he had been sold to King Robert, his life changed for the better as his master treated slaves well and did not subject them to any beating. King also allowed slaves to retain some of their payments. Equiano used to shave and dress the king, care for the horses and also work on various vessels. Due to the proper treatment by his master, he was in good shape to quality work. He estimated saving the king over a hundred pounds in a year. As a result, Equiano was promised teachings on how to handle a ship; other slaves were also allowed to use their master's nautical skills to manage his boats.
Difficulties faced by free blacks
Equiano also argued that free blacks suffered more difficulties than those in bondage. While he was in West India, he encountered a free black man whose name was Joseph Clipson. Despite Joseph being free, he was confronted by a master who asserted that he was a slave and that he had been given orders to ship him back to Jamaica. Joseph protested viciously, but no one listened to him, he was dragged into the captain's ship in spite of him having physical evidence proving that he was a free man. Equiano states that their freedom was only symbolic and that they led a life of fear of being re-enslaved or regular abuse to their liberty (Equiano, Olaudah 2012, 65). There being no courts and law enforcement that could protect them, they suffered the risk of losing their assets. After Equiano had gained his freedom, he faced the same treatment when a white man refused to pay for some goods he sold him. According to Equiano, free black people lived in an uncertain middle ground in-between freedom and slavery.
Relation to other readings about slavery
The narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano has a relation with other readings about slavery such as the narrative of Fredrick Douglas and the incidents in the life of a slave girl. All of them suffered incredibly from racial discrimination and other troubling moments. They all were forced into slavery at awfully very tender ages and all struggled in their lifetime to gain their freedom. When Fredrick Douglas gained his freedom, he married and wrote narratives about slavery. Similarly, after Equiano gained his freedom, he wrote narratives too and spent his life pushing for the abolition of slavery.
Work cited
Cameron, Ann, and Olaudah Equiano. The kidnapped prince : the life of Olaudah Equiano. New York: Knopf Distributed by Random House, 1995. Print.
Equiano, Olaudah. Interesting narrative of the life of olaudah equiano, or gustavus vassa, the. Place of publication not identified: Gale, Sabin Americana, 2012. Print.
