The lithograph called Plantation Cooks, Suriname, ca. 1831 from the The University of Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, and the fictional events in Oroonoko: or the Royal Slave. A True Story by Aphra Behn were both inspired by voyages to Surinam, a colony belonging to the King of England, currently called Suriname and situated next to Ghana. The two conceptions reflect the slaves’ lives in a shared location in different centuries and perspectives. The contents in the illustration contradict the perception of life as a slave from Behn’s narrative of Oroonoko’s experience.

The illustration, Plantation Cooks, presents a moment in the tough daily routines of the kitchen slaves in a plantation in Surinam. The layout includes an open porch in the masters’ house counting four adult slaves, two in the center and two to the sides, a teenager and two infant slaves as well as some animals and elements of nature. Overall, the image emphasizes the working adults while keeping the young ones in the shadows, as if the artist intended to hide the sad reality of their fate as born slaves; or, as if he felt guilty and wanted to protect the children’s illusion by keeping the cruel truth buried in the dark.

In Aphra Behn’s narration, Oroonoko’s responsibilities as a slave or mistreatment from his two masters are nearly nonexistent during most of his slavery lifetime. The protagonist, an African prince in his nation, has the unfortunate fate of becoming a slave in a plantation in Surinam. There he reunites with Imoinda, the love of his life whom he thought dead, and starts a new life with her. After her pregnancy, he fights to obtain his family’s freedom but ends up killing his wife and unborn child and is ultimately mutilated by the deputy governor. Oroonoko was published in 1688 whereas Plantation Cooks, in 1831. In Oroonoko’s timeline, the slave trade was less developed, but the discrimination against slaves was largely just as cruel.

Oroonoko receives special treatment ever since his first day at the plantation. The narrator said, “But as it was more for form than any design to put him to the task, he endured no more of the slave but the name, and remained some days in the house, receiving all visits that were made him, without stirring towards that part of the plantation where the Negroes were.” (44) The statement confirms Oroonoko’s slave status as a façade and the purpose of his new name as for appearances only. Thus, he never had to worry about any of the responsibilities belonging to a true slave. Contrasting Oroonoko, the adults in the picture perform their household tasks while the children expect their little share of food. The man on the left is using a mortar and pestle and the woman on the right is sitting next to the fire cooking the fish in the net above. Inside the porch, covered by the shadows, a boy is sitting eating fish; his short hair and reedy arms suggest he is a teenager. Towards the back of the porch, a woman is walking away while carrying a weight on her head and arms, presumably food. The two infants are sitting on the floor; the oldest holding a bowl and the youngest grabbing the eldest’s arm while staring at the bowl, possibly asking to be fed.

As the passage indicates, the only servitude quality the masters impose on Oroonoko is his name, Caesar (43). This name remembrances the Roman leader Augustus Caesar, which correlates to the newly-introduced European customs rather than to his African origins. The statement also has a condescending tone towards the “Negroes.” According to the OED, the term was given to members of a dark-skinned group of peoples originally native to sub-Saharan Africa; of black African origin or descent. Formerly frequently with the implication of being a slave. There is a clear distinction between Caesar and the rest of the slaves regarding consideration. Besides his dark color and African origins, the slave is treated as a guest in the plantation and welcomed by distinguished families who visit him frequently. Eventually, Caesar earns the designation of “royal slave,” since he acts and is treated like a prince.

The most significant differences between the lives of the plantation cooks and the royal slave are the responsibilities in the master’s house and the treatment from the white masters. In the illustration, the masters are absent, but the unhappy expressions in the faces of the slaves evoke their fatigue from carrying out their tasks and their sadness from being tied to it for life. However, the masters in the novel immediately place Oroonoko in a higher standard than the regular plantation slaves and give him all the comforts they can with the limitation of his freedom. Surinam’s slaves in Oroonoko’s timeline are similar to the slaves in the archive. They work hard at the plantation. They are looked down upon by their masters and have no longer the freedom to do whatever they wanted. It is unreasonable that Oroonoko, alias Caesar, receives so much attention and admiration from the two white masters and even from the author while maintaining the same slave status as the plantation cooks.

As a reader, one may wonder if the narrator had too much admiration towards the slave and failed to relate his life correctly; or, what Behn’s viewpoint in slavery was. As a viewer, one may wonder if the two central adults in the illustration and the children are related, and whether they ever thought about risking their lives to escape slavery. One may also be curious about the female slave’s thoughts at that moment. Her conscience seems lost, looking for an answer to her internal questions in those flames. Some may think Oroonoko’s fate may have been different if he had behaved like a real slave. He may have recognized his role as a working slave and given up his and his family’s freedom in exchange for long life in the plantation.

Works Cited:

• Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko, edited by Janet Todd, Penguin, 2004.
• Pierre Jacques. Plantation Cooks, Suriname, ca. 1831. Slavery Images: Voyage a Surinam. The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas. The University of Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, Virginia. http://slaveryimages.org/detailsKeyword.php?keyword=surinam&recordCount=61&theRecord=3

     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.

Within the confines of the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture: “In Motion: The African American Migration Experience”, there exists an image of particular profundity. It is not a spectacular work of art, but it is emotionally strenuous for the viewer to look upon. This oil painting by Rod Brown is titled “Sheol” and was published in 1998. It is included in Julius Lester’s From Slave Ship to Freedom Road. An apposite piece is the literary work Oroonoko by Aphra Behn. Published in 1688, Behn wrote using various themes that could be aligned with the abolitionist movement. Some might argue that Behn’s novella detailing the royal slave and violence he instigates and endures could be read as meant to encourage sympathy and tolerance in an era marked by the abasing of Africans. This ambition is shared by both Brown and Behn. And though their respective goals regarding the portrayal of the slave trade as a means to encourage sympathy are comparable, they differ in their executions, severity of images used, historical accuracy, relatability and the emotional ramifications presented to their audiences.

An observer will notice that the oil painting shows a group of newly captured slaves held in place by chains. They remain in the hold of the ship. The men and women shown are tightly packed and seem to have no measure of comfort. Solace is impossible when brutally bound by the feet and neck in total darkness. Only the bound parts of the slaves are visible to the viewer. In its entirety, the image of enslaved people is akin to looking upon crates of invaluable commodity thrown together without regard for empathy. This impression is masterfully created by Brown. He expresses the suffering narrative by painting groups of twenty-one humans staked into a space for less than three through the use of restrictive wooden boards. Brown’s color palette is as dark and dreary as the implications for how these slaves were managed.

Oroonoko, is the tale of an innocent, valorous and benevolent African prince who is forced by circumstance to become the rugged leader of a rebellion from bondage. Throughout the novel, Oroonoko is motivated by his love for Imoinda to attempt to shape his uncertain future. Each of these endeavors fail tragically. At the upshot, the protagonist is gruesomely tortured and killed but only after he murders a pregnant Imoinda. However, Imoinda was not the victim of her husband’s rage. As Oroonoko draws his knife to kill his wife, Imoinda was “smiling with joy she should die by so noble a hand” (Behn 61). Euthanasia was the only manner in which Oroonoko could spare his beloved wife and unborn child from the horridness of severe subjugation. Behn proclaims that “this cruel sentence” of slavery is “worse than death” (Behn 24). Conversely, a notion such as a preference for an immediate demise over servitude is incongruent with Behn’s portrayal of slavery up to this point.

Clearly, the mentioned oil painting and abolitionist novel are connected in their narrative regarding the suffering of enslaved people. However, when the two works are juxtaposed a new perspective is created. “Sheol” attempts to show the dark reality of the slave trade while Oroonoko shields the reader from its true barbarity until the novel’s upshot. For instance, an inebriated Oroonoko is brought aboard the ship by treachery and not violent force. In response, the venerated principal character refuses sustenance in the hope that he will perish and escape such indignities. His fellows follow suit until the Captain releases Oroonoko from the chains which bound him. Once the chains were removed from Oroonoko “they no longer refused to eat… and were pleased with their captivity, since by it they hoped to redeem the prince, who, all the rest of the voyage, was treated with all the respect due to his birth…” (Behn 33). This scene is described in a sanitized manner that seems less than parallel to the event portrayed in the painting. Unbelievably, the thralls transported alongside our protagonist are referred to as being content with their bondage.

It is peculiar that that Aphra Behn would utilize the happy slave trope. The contentment of the bondman is not maintained throughout the entirety of the novel, but regardless it is damaging to the cause. Perhaps the author of Oroonoko simply wished to preserve the relative innocence of her protagonist. At the point in which Behn’s fictional paladin was to be auctioned off “he nimbly leaped into the boat and, showing no more concern, suffered himself to be rowed up the river” (Behn 34). By maintaining Oroonoko as a man not yet tainted by true atrocities he would battle later in the story, the character development leading him to murder his wife is far more dramatic. In contrast to this, “Sheol” paints a more barbarous image for the psyche. It exhibits a single moment fixed in despair but is enough to imagine the entirety of the journey through context. On the other hand, the text is incomplete for it only displays a single, extraordinary individual. The object manages to enrich the text by expanding upon the scope to show the experience of the ordinary slaves shipped through the Middle Passage. Behn’s fiction regarding the Royal Slave is incongruent with the stories left behind by the survivors of the Middle Passage. For that reason, each detail presented by Behn must be evaluated in terms of a truly accurate depiction of these historical matters.

To build upon the aforementioned image, the oil painting is aptly accompanied by a caption from Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua’s Biography. Baquaqua describes the peril experienced by himself and those bound beside him on a forced journey to Brazil. Naked and deprived of sunlight, they could no longer tell the time of day until they “became desperate through suffering and fatigue” (Biography of Mahommah G. Baquaqua). This remark is a befitting emotional description of how men shelved in the insolation of darkness must have felt. Thusly, Bacquaqua’s rendering is far more analogous to the painting than Behn’s novel. Both Bacquagua and Brown presented ghastly images that could hopefully shock viewers into feeling sympathy.

Due to the great disparities in these two works, it is difficult to see any common ground they share regarding their respective portrayals of the slave. “Sheol” nearly contradicts the representation of the text. Shortly after being captured, Oroonoko manages to converse and reason with the ship’s captain. His “command was carried to the captain, who returned” (Behn 31) with a response in kind. While this is not a statement to equality, it shows the Africans and their captors as being close in terms of their social stations. Contrary to this, the Africans depicted in the oil painting have no means to complain or find resolutions to their perils. Instead, they can only suffer in silence. And even though the presence of the jailors is physically omitted from the art piece, the psychological repercussions can still be observed. The slaves are allowed no movement, for this would show liveliness. Alternatively, this still life painting creates a feeling of oppression that has thoroughly permeated the spirit of the captives.

It can be reasoned that the defeated manner in which the captives are shown in “Sheol” is intentional. Brown put great detail into the visible body parts of the enslaved people. These viewable portions are restricted to the crowns and the soles of the bound men. Including faces would humanize the men and women depicted. Referring to them as men and women should be done in the liberal sense, since no sexual characteristics or any other distinguishable characteristics are created.  By these means Brown mimics the dehumanizing process which was used against these human chattels. Furthermore, the viewer is unable to look upon the faces of the captives and make judgments of their perceived emotional states. This contrasts profoundly with the fully fleshed out character of Oroonoko. Behn writes that he died a “great man; worthy of a better fate” (66). After all the indignities forced upon her title character, she elucidates her hope for “his glorious name to survive to all ages” (Behn 66). In essence, Aphra Behn, refused to bestialize or subvert her protagonist so that it would be more difficult for her audience to condone the dehumanizing of slaves during the period in which Oroonoko was written.

Rod Brown’s “Sheol” and Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko paint remarkably different tales of Africans being oppressed by the systematic capture, abuse and sale across the Middle Passage. One attempts to bowdlerize the experience of shackled men and women for the sake of preserving the narrative and the integrity of the character. Hence, a deeply involved and empathetic tale is created. Meanwhile, the other (“Sheol”) manages to build an equally sound argument against the slave trade by producing an image in which no characters are developed, but many are dehumanized accurately. These two artifacts raise questions regarding the reliability of any such representations. The incongruencies between the works of Brown and Behn show how art can be warped or focused by specific agendas as they are conveyed to viewers.

Works Cited Page

Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko, edited by Jim Miller, Dover Thrift Editions, 2017.

Brown, Rod. “Sheol.” From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, 1998, General Research and Reference Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. http://www.inmotionaame.org/gallery/detail.cfm?migration=1&topic=99&id=297611&type=image&metadata=show&page=6

Baquaqua, Mahommah Gardo, and Samuel Moore. Biography of Mahommah G. Baquaqua: a Native Zoogoo, in the Interior of Africa (a Convert to Christianity). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform?, 2012.

Slave Treatment

In modern day society we have heard of the barbaric interaction of slave masters and the african slaves. There have been many illustrations, short stories, poem and novels written about slavery. Slave masters have a authoritarian attitude to the slaves they have owned, to which they enforced rules,  punishments that were physical, to constantly work because they are people that keep the economy flourishing for the white men. The illustration and novel Oroonoko by Aphra Behn when compared, emphasizes two different point of views of how slave masters treated their slaves.

In the New York Public Library’s Digital Collection on Slavery, the most eye captivating illustration was the Sugar Plantation. This image depicts the hard work slaves were being put through. In the image it is black and white with blue hues and there are 3 male African slaves who are tending to the sugar canes. They are all shirtless and shoeless, must be summer. One is digging into the soil, another one besides him cutting into the cane with a machete and another crouched down working onto the soil. Whilst the three men are fixated on working, there is a white man standing by with some distance. The white man/master is fully clothes from head to toe, wearing a big brim hat, cigarette or toothpick in his mouth and with great posture. It can be seen the white man has high authority, with his left hand on his hips and right hand holding a whip and a pistol in his belt. He watches over them, possibly to make sure no mistakes are being created. Over in the distance of the image, there is slave worker and a master, the slave worker is crouched down, legs apart with his back faced to the master, the master with his hand raised is whipping the worker.

This illustrations shows what slaves went through, this image is like a small snippet as to what they endured throughout their life of captivation. They work all day long in the scorching heat and even brutal winters while the white men standing watching over them. This evokes the emotions of melancholy because this has happened in the past and it is gut wrenching that these were real human beings that went through this and many people stayed as slaves till death, so this sort of injustice comes into light. Even today in other countries slavery is still prevalent but there’s not enough recognition or many of us turn a blind eye.

This image is like a parallel into time, because we as a new time/era see images like this and see the dehumanization and atrocities of slavery but in those times it was always considered a norm in society. As a viewer of this image, you can almost tell the backstory of these slaves, you can assume they were taken from their homes, bought and sold to only work on fields and for a white master.

In the novel, Oroonoko by Aphra Behn, the protagonist Oroonoko is taken into slavery by deceit, he is sold off to a young man named Trefry. Their relationship is very different from the typical slave master and slave relationship. In the novel Trefry is sympathetic to Oroonoko and his struggles, he almost does not treat him with authority as a master but rather as a friend. There are 2 instances where Trefry treats Oroonoko sympathetically, for example in the novel when Oroonoko is bought by Trefry, “ he promised him on his word and honour, he would find the means to reconduct him to his own country again” (Behn, 42)  as a reader, it comes to a surprise that a master upon meeting a slave that he just bought would promise to send the slave back home. This is a promise that allows Trefry and Oroonoko to have a friendship, because Trefry shows empathy that this slave that he had, was of royalty and that being a slave would not fit his characteristics. Trefry gives Oroonoko a new name, Caesar ; he gave this name that most fit his appearance and character. Another moment in the novel where Trefry is displaying kindness, is when he reunites the two lost lovers, Oroonoko and Imoinda. “Trefry was infentiley pleased with this novel, and found this Clemene was the fair mistress of whom Caesar had before spoke, and was not a little satisfied that Heaven was so kind to the prince  as to sweeten his misfortune by so lucky accident” ( Behn 47) This prove to show that he was a friend rather than a master, he shows that he wholeheartedly listened to Oroonoko’s tragedies, that he felt in his part of being a supportive friend, he needed to reunite them together.

When the Sugar plantation illustration and novel Oroonoko are compared, the masters are what create the environment of what it feels to be enslaved or to feel like an actual person. The sugar plantation illustration shows how masters kept their slaves under them by using whips or even carrying them around, used as a scare tactic. The masters are trying to reinforce a behavior and that is to do the work efficiently and no mistakes are to be made and to instill fear. Wherehas in Oroonoko, Trefry the master, helps out Oroonoko and treats him as a person. He does not instill fear in Oroonoko but rather shows a side that Oroonoko did not think a master would have towards him, showing tenderness and sincerity. He promises to send him back to his country and even reunites Oroonoko of his lost love. These two works highlight the different types a treatment would receive from a master, also allowing reader to understand in the time where slavery was prominent, many people tend to forget in the midst of all the scary and barbaric masters, there must have been some compassionate and caring masters.

It is seen that in both works, highlight the theme of the different master-slave relationships. In the illustration of Sugar Plantation and Oroonoko, there are two different treatments the slaves receive, the slaves that are working in the slave plantation they have their masters watching over the work and have this persona of power and authority. However, in Oroonoko, also known as Caesar, his master Trefry treats him with the utmost respect and acts as friend. These two works portray the two different acts/ treatments  a master can treat their slaves, whether it be cruel and barbaric or with kindness and sympathy. Also shows that within humanity, there is dehumanization and compassion for others rolled, it just takes a person to choose which path on how to treat another human being.

Work cited

Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko, edited by Janet Todd, Penguin, 2004.

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. “Sugar plantation.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-491d-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

                                     Slave Advertisment in Equiano

    A slave advertisement from The New York Public Library Digital Collections reads:

“To be sold on board the Ship Blance Ylard on tuefday the 6th of May next, at Afhley-

Ferry; a choice cargo of about 250 fine healthy NEGROS, just arrived from the

Windward & Rice Coaft. —-The utmoft care has already been taken, and shall be

continued, to keep them free from the leaft danger of being infected with SMALL-POX,

no boat having been on board, and all other communication with people from Charles-

Town prevented. Auftin, Laurens & Applebys.” (sic). The slave advertisement gives the

reader the idea that this is provided to a newpapers out in Charles-Town, which sounds

like Charleston. The viewer is not clear who composed this advertisment, however, the

language behind this advertisement clearly describes that healthy black people coming

from Windward & Rice Coaft are in fact physically healthy and free of small-pox. If a

masters is in need of a slave to do work such as maid, cotton picking etc. The

advertisement is being promoted by white slave traders, nonetheless which clearly

obvious, as a way to give the slaveholders a greater chances of having healthy people

do all the field work without getting sick. The sign also indicates as they were boarded

on the ship the majority of them were made sure they received the minimum vaccination

in order to prevent disease from Africa traveling to the United States or England. At the

bottom of the advertisement, it carries out a safe “warning”. None of the black people on

the board have been infected by any disease whatsoever, and were likely given a

vaccination before being boarded to the ships. The advertisement reveals that its

audience has no knowledge of these peoples’ families, lives or history, and therefore,

the reader can make the assumption that this advertisement objectifies

and dehumanizes the people it describes. They are describe more as livestock instead

of animals due to the sign indicating they are in perfect condition to work depending on

what the master tells them.  

   What other contextual elements would be needed in order to analyze this

advertisement further? The condition of the slaves indicates the majority are physically

in-shape and free of disease , whereas they are available to work. The slaveowners are

also responsible for there slaves physical condition as read “ The utmoft care has

already been taken, and shall be continued, to keep them free from the leaft danger of

being infected with SMALL-POX”. And lastly, slave owners are told the slaves do not

know the English language well so they are prevented from having outside

communications from anyone in Charles-Town.

   Olaudah Equiano, who wrote The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah

Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, first published in 1789 was born in the Eboe province of

Africa. While he was a young child, his sister and himself were seize by kidnappers and

sold off to slave traders. The ship was not a place to get comfortable, you are assigned

a bunker to lay in while chained awaiting arrival. Equiano states, “We did not know what

to think of this; but as the vessel drew nearer we plainly saw the harbour, and other

ships different kinds and sizes: and we soon anchored amongst them off Bridge Town.

Many merchants and planters now came on board thought it was in the evening.” (60)

More than one ship arrived to the land of Africa sending off its’ merchants to go “hunt”

down Africans to auction or sell newly found slaves to the superior. Equiano’s emphasis

on the size of the ships and their capacity for slaves serves to highlight how great of an

impact the slave trade had on the African populations. And as for the merchants, they

held it in there power to make wise choices, but chose a negative trait which involved

attempting to taunt the slaves in exchange for a physical altercation even violating the

women (who also had children).

   Equiano had no other choice but to imagine being given another fate which included

being left for dead instead of shipped off to slavery. Other times he heard bitter cries of

the other slaves who fear each day for there safety that was haunting them. Equaino

stated, “We thought by this we should be eaten by these ugly men, as they appeared to

us; and, when soon after we were all put down down under the deck again, there was

much dread and trembling among us and nothing but bitter cries to be heard all the

night from these apprehensions, insomuch that at last the white people got old slaves

from the land to pacify us.” (60) Because slaves were not expected to understand the

English language or written word, the audience for this advertisement was likely white

slave owners. Similarly, in Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative, we can also

see how Equaino emphasizes the cruel objectification of slaves, particularly during the

Middle Passage. The majority also had women slaves on board expecting to give birth

while on a ship with the bottom of the bow constantly shaken. Women would cried all of

the night as the white people would come out of the blue to violate the women. This

even included throwing the babies into the water without consideration.

   The advertisement even permits taking the rights of a slave away which also includes

capturing them from their own homeland. Equiano questions, “Is it not enough that we

are torn from our country and friends to toil for your luxury and lust of gain? Must every

tender feeling be likewise sacrificed to your avarice? Are the dearest friends and

relations, now rendered more dear by their separation from their kindred, still to be

parted from each other, and thus prevented from cheering the gloom of slavery with the

small comfort of being together and mingling their sufferings and sorrows?” (61). This

sign indicates to the slave owners they will make a quick buck of the work being done

for them. Because slaves were taken away from Africa divided them from there friends

and family, the audience is aware that the slaves were aware that the white man is

making a quick buck on off them without being considerate of the fact they tarnished

there life. No matter how much slaves are likely to suffer suffer, slave owners will

constantly receive unearned praise living off on the pain and suffering of slaves. They

are not worry about the dangers of the slaves as long as it meant to do there work

without even being paid to do so.  

   The advertisement of shipping off slaves to the mainland (America or United

Kingdom) sent out a message that anyone looking for slaves was in luck as they were

clean and healthy. This advertisement caused many downfalls for black people such as

being captured and distant from their love ones, the possibly raping of women which

occur on the boat, and the selfish use of slaves for wealth and greed. The audience

acknowledges what the sign and the reading of the story describe its’ targets whereas it

was dehumanizing.

Work Cited

Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings, edited by Vincent Carretta,   Penguin, 2003.

To be sold, on board the ship Bance Island, … negroes, just arrived from the Windward & Rice Coast by Austin, Laurens & Appleby. 1940-1960