The Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the United States Congress in 1850. The law required the slaves who escaped in the free states to return back to their masters. According to the image “Fugitive Slave as Advertised for Capture”, there is a black slave that looks like he is traveling due to his uniform and the heavy stick that he is carrying. He could be returning back to his master and is being brought to slavery. It also looks like this image was hand drawn with a pencil because of the dark lines and he is depressed because he lost his freedom. While viewing this image, it can evoke many emotions such as sadness, depression, or anger because slavery was a tragic time in history. This image briefly depicts how hard it was for slaves to fight for their freedom because it wasn’t given to them.
Furthermore, the “Fugitive Slave as Advertised for Capture” image correlates to the text, The Interesting Narrative of The Life Of, Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African written by himself by Olaudah Equiano, because they both portray the life of slavery. Olaudah Equiano is an African man who was kidnapped into slavery at eleven years old. He fought many years for his freedom and was sold by his white masters. Eventually, he was able to accumulate enough money from a merchant trade to buy his freedom. Equiano argues against slavery in his Interesting Narrative and became a monumental voice in the abolitionist movement. In his autobiography he states, “This produced copious perspiration, 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 purchases” (Equiano 58). This shows the terrifying experience that the slaves had to endure while being mistreated by their masters. Millions of Africans were forced to remove from their homes and transport across the Atlantic in slave ships. The slaves were beaten and many of them wished to have freedom. The image that I’ve chosen entitled, “Fugitive Slave as Advertised for Capture” is similar to Equiano’s story because it symbolizes depression due to the captured slaves who were sent back to their masters when they escaped to the free states. The slaves wanted freedom because they were being treated poorly, which is identical to Equiano’s horrific perspective of slavery. The slave in this image looks like he is returning back to his master because he was captured, and this shows that freedom wasn’t necessarily free.
Moreover, Equiano expresses his happiness when he became a free slave due to buying his freedom. He says, “Accordingly he signed the manumission that day; so that, before night, I who had been a slave in the morning, trembling at the will of another, became my own master, and completely free. I thought this was the happiest day I had ever experienced…” (Equiano 136-137). Equiano had to buy his freedom because that was the only way that a slave was able to become free. He achieves something that many slaves wished to have, which was no longer being the property of someone else. Due to slaves being owned by white masters, they weren’t able to experience happiness or the outside world, which became a burden for them. In addition, a major theme in this autobiography that relates to my image is “selfhood” because Equiano demonstrates that he is fully human even though he was a slave. He experiences depression, sorrow, and empathy during his slavery journey because he was mistreated and forced to work for his masters. This is significant to my image because the slaves had emotions despite the way they were being treated. The blacks were thrown into slavery and many of them may have lost their identity due to living in a place where they didn’t belong. In the advertisement, it is noticeable that the slave is by himself, which shows that many slaves had to live on their own and they were separated from their families and loved ones. None of the slaves were safe and the masters treated them how they wanted to treat them. They also weren’t promised freedom or had the option to buy their freedom as Equiano did.
Another major theme in Equiano’s story that relates to my image is “Commerce and Trade.” During the capture of slaves, they were being bought and sold for money and many of them were chained. This connects to Equiano’s life as a slave because he became a property within the global system of trade. While looking at the advertisement, viewers can get a sense of understanding of what slavery consisted of because of its connection to the text. In addition, many slaves may have lost their hope and would continue to expect the worst because they would experience nothing but torture in their lives. Others may have found their faith through God, in order to survive through slavery. Equiano certainly believed that through God, he will find a way when he says, “I was sensible of the invisible hand of God, which guided and protected me when in truth I knew it not: still the Lord pursued me although I slighted and disregarded it; this mercy melted me down” (Equiano 191). This shows that he was able to look up to God in times of trouble and he never gave up when he was a slave. In addition, I believe that the audiences for Equiano’s narrative are similar to the advertisement because the drawing of the slave shows how heartbreaking slavery was. The audience may have felt sympathy for the slaves. Equiano’s narrative connects with this image very well because he is telling a story through this picture based on his life as a slave and trying to find freedom.
Nevertheless, The Fugitive Slave Act makes a strong connection with Equiano’s Interesting Narrative because they both relate to slavery and the fight for freedom. Many slaves weren’t promised their freedom, and this causes them to live in suffering and eventually die. Equiano was a slave who figured a way out of slavery by buying his freedom while experiencing the hardships that came with it.
Works Cited
Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life and Other Writings, edited by Vincent Carretta, Penguin, 2003.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints
Division, The New York Public Library. “Fugitive slave as advertised for
capture.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1837.
http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/6e4acbd5-340b-e511-e040-e00a180664e9
LitCharts. “The Life of Olaudah Equiano Summary.” LitCharts,www.litcharts.com/lit/the-life- of-olaudah-equiano/summary.
