During the late 16th century to early 19th century the Transatlantic Slave Trade was operated in order to transport various things. These things included crash crops, goods, clothing, food, and slaves. This is a drawing depicting the captives on the French slave ship, Vigilante. The image illustrates how captured slaves were transported to The New World. The diagram shown in the image shows the ship itself, the shape of the ship, and the containers it held inside. On the side, there are also different diagrams of the chains used to hold down the captives. This image depicts how the slaves were transported one on top of the other as cargo, the captives were stacked and made to sit in order to fit as many as possible. As one sees it you become aware of the inhuman ways in which slaves were transported and how they had to deal with being cramped up in a place for days on end. As one sees the image it gives the observer the feeling of melancholy at the atrocity these victims had to suffer for the profit of others. Based on these images I would like to read a little more about the overall shipment of slaves I think that it is something that shows the dehumanization of the slaves in that they were shipped like livestock. Some of the questions that this image might raise are how were such treatment of human beings allowed and encouraged? What thoughts did these victims have after having being treated in this manner?

In her poem “On being brought from Africa to America” Phillis Wheatley speaks about her experience in having been taken to Africa and brought to America, in her poem she gives details and thanks God for her voyage. The poem begins with the narrator telling the readers about the “mercy” of being brought from Africa, which is described as a “pagan land” (1). Then she states that this mercy has taught her “that there’s a God, and there’s a Saviour too” (3). She ends her poem by telling her readers “Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,/ May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train” (7-8) telling people like her that even with all their “sins” and “darkness” they can still find salvation. With her words she shows how people saw people of color, she then tries to persuade them of the blessing that it is to be taken from Africa. She gives her readers a sense of hope that just as she has experienced religious salvation so can others as well if they just repent. We should take into consideration that these poems were written by a slave woman for a predominantly white audience. Her poems and her works had been published with the help of her owner, the reason for the success of her poetry was because as shown in this poem she does not speak out against slavery. Instead, Wheatley supports slavery or gives another benefit by showing people that slavery liberated her from the pagan religion she had once served. With this ideal, many people also came to believe that slavery also saved people from sin and paganism by converting them to Christianity.

The image shows a different view in the voyage to America from Africa in the poem written by Phillis Wheatley “On being brought from Africa to America.” This image illuminates the different views of the voyage to America, some held the ideas that it was a salvation from the “savagery” of Africa and its culture. This image goes against the ideas that Phillis Wheatley had about her voyage to America, she perceived it as a salvation and a gift from God. The terrible conditions in the image show that it was far from a blessing for those that endured it. The image shows us with great detail the way in which slaves were brought from Africa. As we see in the image some of them were laid out side by side and in the middle of the boat, many others were sat down in neat rows. Although one might think this would be uncomfortable at worst, we must remember that they had to stay in those positions for months at a time. In addition, during this voyage, the captured people did not see the light, did not have water or food and had to defecate and relieve themselves right in the same area. The heat of the place must have also been unbearable after many days in the same area, and the smells of bodies and feces must have been even worst with this heat. Unfortunately, it did not end there many perished during that trip and their decomposing bodies were left there for days. That is just some of the things they had to endure, not to mention rape, murder, and other such atrocities.

Moreover, For Wheatley, her experience in slavery was described by her as a positive miracle, something that saved her from the backwardness of her society and culture. In her poem Wheatley never speaks out against the system of slavery, instead, she appreciates it because it has brought her what she deems salvation from the savage ways. Her poem speaks about the miracle of having been brought to America, the image shows that the trip itself showed the lack of empathy from that captured them. Wheatley does not describe for us how she was transported from her home, instead, it informs us of the blessing that it has been in her life to travel to America where she was able to learn Christianity. The diagram shows us that this voyage was a far cry from a vacation or a miracle, it was a imprisonment and a death sentence.

Although Wheatley did not have the same life as many other slaves or the same ideas about slavery, she still experienced it and the long voyage to America. This image shows the conditions in which Wheatley most likely traveled, giving evidence that the voyage and destination were far from a blessing. It also gives a voice to all of those slaves that died in transit to new places due to the conditions portrayed in the image, those who see it will be able to understand just one part of the Triangular Slave Trade. From these two sources, we can see two widely different points of view on slavery. Both of these sources are very informative for us and give us two opinions that show us that the variety of human thinking is. In the end, it gives us a tiny glimpse into slavery and the things that slaves endured.

Work Cited:

• Wheatley, Phillis. “On Being Brought from Africa to America.” Complete Writings, edited by Vincent Carretta, Penguin, 2001.
• Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. “Interior of Slave ship, Vigilante.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-4d67-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

        In the illustration Bodies in the Sea (1854) by Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua, the viewer will first notice a beautiful and charming oil painting of a ship sailing away in the open seas on a bright, cloudy day with birds flying nearby. The illustration first presents another day at sea; however, as the viewer looks downwards in the image, the viewer will then begin to notice unusual dark shapes just a few feet away from the ship, perhaps slowly sinking into deeper waves. As the viewer peers more clearly into the image, the viewer will be able to understand that the dark shapes in the water are not sea animals of any kind, no seals or big fish; the dark shapes in the water are the bodies of slaves abandoned and left to die at sea. As the viewer begins to understand what the illustration conveys, then the viewer may realize that the image provokes thoughts of disgust, feelings of horror, rage, and sadness. The viewer sees the bodies of those who may have been mothers, fathers, children, and loved ones, taken out of his or her homeland, away from everything he or she ever knew. The viewer is left with the idea that these slaves have been simply tossed aside to the waves of the sea like garbage, to be forgotten about without justice.

         The critical questions that arise from the illustration are: From the artist’s perspective, how did the artist feel while creating this image? Does the artist have a connection to the history behind this image? Was the artist possibly a slave him or herself and can relate to the experience portrayed here, especially as a participant of the Middle Passage? How long did the artist take to create this image and how did the artist feel while creating this image? Did the artist possibly know someone who was treated in the same way? It also prompts the question to learn if this image did not only become well known but also became a popular image to persuade individuals to become abolitionists.

         Similarly, as the painting Bodies in the Sea portrays the idea of an artist’s ambiguous perception of slaves, in Aphra Behn’s novella Oroonoko or, the Royal Slave, the author also presents her protagonist Oroonoko changes as a character based on the reader’s perspective of him. The phrase to judge a book by its cover is useful in order to help one unpack how an author conveys an imagined fiction of a slave and not the reality of it. Slaves were deemed through various aspects such as his or her appearance, skin color, intelligence, sense of knowledge of European customs and cultures, and even through what he or she is wearing or not wearing. The connection between the novella and the illustration is that both objects touch on the themes of prejudice, discrimination, treatment based on which slave is considered unique and unusual, and the fear of rejection slaves may have had if they were to be perceived in many forms based on whatever white slave owners and buyers thought made them different than anyone else.

         In Aphra Behn’s novella Oroonoko or, the Royal Slave, the reader is presented with a description of the main character Oroonoko’s short life as a royal prince in Surinam, a kingdom in Africa. He is described as a beautiful, strong and intelligent individual much different than Behn could have ever expected for a black man from Africa. However, no matter how much beauty, strength and morality Oroonoko could have had, he would still eventually become a slave after falling in love with a woman named Imoinda. Unlike many other slaves, Oroonoko was allowed to be married and live happily with the woman he loved without the fear of Mr. Trefry, a white slave owner going after Imoinda because Mr. Trefry grew fond of Oroonoko and knew Oroonoko was not to be treated like any other slave. After Oroonoko falls in love and marries Imoinda, he does not realize that their love for each other will soon lead to their undoing.

         A specific moment that connects Oroonoko on how he is treated “differently” from other slaves is once he realizes he has become a slave, Oroonoko makes the conscious decision of telling Mr. Trefry that he wishes to be treated no differently than any slave. To which is not possible because even if Oroonoko is not a royal anymore, Behn makes it clear that there is something different about him that anyone can clearly see, to realize that Oroonoko is not an ordinary slave. Although he was a prince back in Africa, is aware he is incredibly intelligent, Oroonoko is described as looking much like a European and can entertain Mr. Trefry due to the fact that Oroonoko is fluent in English and French. The manner in which Behn chooses to distinguish Oroonoko as a slave and as a royal, as people will still understand he is not a typical slave and will be considered different, “the royal youth appeared in spite of the slave, and people could not help treating him after a different manner without designing it; as soon as they approached him, they venerated and esteemed him; his eyes insensibly commanded respect, and his behavior insinuated it into every soul.” (Behn 43). This is a specific moment that expresses how although Oroonoko is a slave unlike other slaves from Africa, he has the option of letting his master know what he wants and actually be listened to because he looks and presents himself much differently than a regular slave, as it is fairly clear that Oroonoko is not just an ordinary slave and he should not be thought of as one. Behn does not go into much detail on Oroonoko’s hardships as a royal nor as a slave, unlike the artist in the illustrations; therefore, there is a distinction on how Oroonoko is treated “differently” than other slaves. This moment is significant from this piece of the text and the illustration because unlike the image as the artist chooses to present the brutal truths of slavery, to exhibit how not everyone would be treated and viewed the same as Oroonoko. Whereas Behn makes the decision to not depict the harsh truths of slavery, instead she just chooses to give a brief explanation on how he is a slave, but it is not until his death that Behn will describe how he will undergo the death of a slave. The story that arises by putting the object and the text in connection with one another is a regular slave owner with a cigar in his mouth, purchasing a dark-skinned, almost to bare naked, with shackles on his or her arms and legs slave and taking one look at the slave and saying “you are ugly but you will do,” with an ominous tone to clearly express that the slave is easily replaceable. That slave will undergo any form of torture for being viewed as ugly and simply the slave owner can do whatever he wishes, unlike Oroonoko, who even as a slave was treated “differently” because he was perceived more as a European than as a black man.

        Another particular moment that connects on how Oroonoko is treated “differently” from other slaves is when Oroonoko who is also known as Caesar, which is a name known to be strong and powerful. This is a significant event because the fact that Oroonoko was given a name to represent strength, talent, skill, and toughness, he was not given any simple name nor referred by Behn or anyone else in the novella by the “n” word. “I ought to tell you that the Christians never buy any slaves but they give them some name of their own, their native ones being likely very barbarous and hard to pronounce; so that Mr. Trefry gave Oroonoko that of Caesar, which name will live in that country as long as that (scarce more) glorious one of the great Roman…” (43). The narrative that comes to the surface is by the reader coming to the realization that slaves who are favored will be given special treatment and even acknowledged in a nicer way than slaves who are thrown aside and considered as property. The story that emerges by putting the object and the text in connection with one another is that slaves who are given a name that is not cruel and ruthless are the ones most likely to be remembered and even admired by someone unexpected. A slave that is snatched away from his or her homeland, viewed as nothing but as a being with dark skin with almost to no intelligence and ignorance of European customs and traditions and thought to be useless before the ship reaches its destination is no Oroonoko/ Caesar, he or she is simply a “negro.”

        In conclusion, the lingering questions that continue to emerge after a close reading and analysis of the image and of the text as the harsh reality of slavery was exposed by several artists and authors, obviously not every slave was viewed and respected like Oroonoko/Caesar and treated cruelly unlike he was. Therefore, during the voyage from the Middle Passage to take slaves to the West Indies, could there have been any possible way for a slave who was perceived to be like Oroonoko? Could he or she eventually have gained a certain, amiable and more intelligent manner that was considered more tolerable and esteem like his? The answer may be unknown but perhaps may have been possible, especially towards abolitionists. If so, are there any documents, whether in images or novellas that conveys that example? An important implication of these questions is that a larger scope implication is that in simple terms, no matter how many centuries it has been, even continuing to modern day, there is always judgment and discrimination for those who are thought to be different than a white person, it was clear during the time of slavery: books, (slaves) were judged and deemed unworthy by their cover.

Works Cited

Baquaqua, Mahommah Gardo. Bodies in the Sea. 1854. 485703. Art and Artifacts   

        Division. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York.

        http://www.inmotionaame.org/gallery/detail.cfm                    

        migration=1&topic=99&id=298212&ty

        pe=image&metadata=show&page=7

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

Woman and child on auction block,1800s

The transatlantic era encompasses lots of rich historical artifacts which introduce viewers to the period in  a variety of ways. Two items from the Transatlantic era that reflect the actions of this time, is a piece of art held in the Nypl special collections named, “Woman and child on auction block” and Phyllis Wheatley’s poem, “To the Right Honourable William Earl of Dartmouth.” Both pieces hold ties to slavery and specifically portray how separation which occurs through the Transatlantic Trade impacts the lives of various slaves.

The illustration titled, “Woman and Child on Auction Block” is done to capture a still life scenario of a moment during a slave trade. The illustration depicts a live auction where slaves in their native lands are waiting to be sold. You can see that they’re in the slave’s homeland from the array of palm trees and the difference in clothing from suits on the auction buyers versus traditional like wrapped cloth on the slaves. The elements of this scene present many buyers, a shouting auctioneer and a variety of slaves either as a family or a singular slave. It is a detailed scenario of what many know as a slave trade, but allows the viewer to visualize, feel, and understand the moment when a mother and child like many slaves of this time are separated from one another. On the other hand, the poem is written by a slave, Phyllis Wheatley herself. Her poem is a congratulations to the Earl but speaks of her conflicts in comparison to the Earl’s successful pursuits.

In the start of Wheatley’s poem when writing about how the colonies should, (line 17) “no longer dread the iron chains of tyranny” she is subtlety hinting at the chains of slavery. Slaves who are barred by these chains have no chance at freedom, and she uses this as a chance to compare how these irons chains can grant freedom as well as suppression which now the Earl should know is a relief and would be a relief to slaves had they not be barred. This loss of freedom is her introduction into the ideas incorporating separation. The first steps of separation when taking a slave from their home starts with the chains that are placed on the slave when getting ready to deport and take them away.  In comparison the painting also reflects what is about to occur as separation begins. The scene of a slave auction which shows the auctioneer trying to sell a mother and daughter reflect how they will be taken away either together under one buyer or not. The women as a result will be handed to a slave owner and their freedom in possession of an individual rather than their own lives because of this separation.

In Wheatley’s poem she goes onto explain more about her experiences with separation as she continues to write within her poem. She expresses in line 25 “By feeling hearts alone best understood, I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate, was snatch’d from Afric’s fancy’d happy seat: What pangs excruciating must molest, What sorrows labour in my parent’s breast?” Her remarks are personal and show how because of slavery and the colonization of Africa she was taken from her parents. She was removed and as she emotionally writes torn from her homeland and birth parents because of the slave trade. This portion was meant to convey to the Earl her understanding of pain as the colonizers felt with the British but also boldly proclaiming her miseries of slavery as a result. Similarly, what is portrayed in the painting is the same thing. Although we do not know the story of the women and children sold these frightened faced women are being sold and snatched from their land because of the colonizers and sent away to whoever buys them. Furthermore, as result of this slavery we can see the impacts of separation even further when examining the male slave being whipped by his owner in the background.  The male slave who we can either assume is part of a family or sold on his own will also be torn from the members of his family. And we can assume because of his resistance to being sold and taken away he is reprimanded by one of the white buyers. The consequences as seen by the forced separation of slaves through Wheatley and the individuals in the illustration help viewers to better understand and interpret the consequences slaves must suffer because of the trade.

As seen through both mediums of Phyllis Wheatley’s poem and the still life painting we come to understand the connection of these two pieces in their ability to capture the aspects of separation by force of slavery.  The pieces themselves are two of many artifacts throughout history that can help us see the memories of the time and the results and actions of the era. Wheatley’s poem although seemingly decipherable leaves us with questions on her feelings of slavery and her connection as an author and how this combination has affected her. And the paining itself leaves us open to the fact that portrayals of art often leave us with a view into the time but any questions about who, where and what details of the piece we cannot ask because there are no survivors. Most importantly both works help us to take a closer look at this moment of time and reflect on the details we see and read which allow us to understand the period of slavery and its part of history.

Works Cited

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. “Woman and Child on Auction Block.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 180.

http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/6fb48e0795-4ac1-e040-e00a18061701

Wheatley, Phyllis. “On Being Brought from Africa to America.” Complete Writings, edited by Vincent Caretta, Penguin, 2001.

Woman and child on auction block,1800s

Woman and Child on Auction Block

In this illustration from the New York Public Library Collections, there is a white man on a pedestal with a paper sign that says “Sale” and he has an audience of white males. There are a few black female slaves with children that are being held for auction. In the background there are a few black male slaves being tortured. The woman with the young child look like they are about to be separated from each other. This image brings a feeling of sadness. This illustration evokes empathy in its viewer because the families being separated from each other. The audience feels sorry for these people having to go through these situations. This image raises many questions, including: I would like to know how colored people were taken and how were they taken apart from their families, as well as to where would these auctions take place? Also, if the people in these auctions were mostly middle class or upper class?

This image almost brought up the connection of Oroonoko and Imoinda in the novel Oroonoko (1688) by Aphra Behn about how they were separated and sold into slavery. Behn portrays Oroonoko as a blend of Roman and African traits and has lived peacefully among the whites and was even a slave owner. Oroonoko and Imoinda were in love with each other, but the elderly king wanted Imoinda for himself. He conveyed this plan to separate the two and eventually sold Imoinda into slavery. Oroonoko is a story about separation and the agony that follows. This part of the story relates to the image due to the fact that we can see two colored people being separated from each other. A mother and daughter and their love for each other is seen through how devastated they look. Of course, a mother’s love is not the same as the love that people in love have, but it connects in the way that Oroonoko and Imoinda’s love for one another is being taken away from each other. Literally being torn apart, while the mother and daughter are also being torn apart from each other. When two people are separated from each other they usually go through some sad phase, especially if it involves deep feelings of love. In the story Oroonoko was devastated that Imoinda was not with him anymore because he believed that she had died. “The first effects of Imoinda’s death had given him; insomuch as having received a thousand kind embassies from the king, and invitation to return to court, he obeyed, though with no little reluctance, and when he did so, there was a visible change in him, and for a long time he was much more melancholy than before.” (36). Further on into the story Oroonoko was taken to the British colony of Suriname, where he was sold into slavery to a relatively kind man who sees him as a friend. Eventually he and Trefry (the man who bought him from the captain) talk about who Imoinda was to Oroonoko and how he was in love with her. Trefry felt sympathy for him and decides to help him by giving him the name Caesar. Trefry talks about this woman slave named Clemene and how beautiful she is. Wanting Oroonoko to meet her. Little did they know that he would soon be reunited with the love of his life (41-47). Oroonoko does not produce as much sympathy from its readers as in the illustration “Woman and child on auction block.”

Throughout the short novel Oroonoko goes through a lot. He went from being a slave owner to being sold as one by a so-called friend. The despondent Oroonoko realizes he now will never be free and that his child will be born in captivity. He informs Imoinda that he has decided to kill her honorably, take revenge on Byam, and then kills himself. She thanks her husband for allowing her to die with dignity, and he cuts her throat and removes her face with his knife. “The lovely, young and adorned victim lays herself down before the sacrificer, while he, with a hand resolved, and a heartbreaking within, gave the fatal stroke, first cutting her throat, and then severing her yet smiling face from that delicate body, pregnant as it was with the fruits of tenderest love.” (72). But Oroonoko becomes prostrated with grief and can never generate enough energy to go after Byam. Sinking ever deeper into depression, he waits for eight days next to the body of his dead wife until the stench brings Byam’s men to the site, where they immediately set about killing him. Killing the one person who meant the world to him along with the unborn baby. This kind of separation lead Oroonoko to his death.

Works Cited

“Woman and Child on Auction Block.” NYPL Digital Collections, digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/6fb48e0e-0795-4ac1-e040-e00a18061701.

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.

On the fifth page of The New York Public Library website, displayed on a table, in two sizes lays an image on the Manilla. It is from the sample Noel Pittman Collection and the shape of this unique item. It lies somewhere between the form of a Horseshoe and the pull knob of the dresser. It originated in the 15 century and is currently used now in West Africa’s, It is made of out Bronze or copper and Comes in Bronze or Copper, and was used to pay for a slave. It’s said that a slave would cost twelve to fifteen Manillas and by the 1700s a slave might cost anywhere between 20 to 25.

I find it ironic that an item used widely in West Africa, was used to sell slaves, not only outside of the country but within the state. The circulation and development of the Minalla, to continuously be used in the home base, can remind one about the story of Oroonoko. Mainly the Kings willingness to sell Imonda to the Christians or the Heathens. There is something to be said about the openness of both cases, to the people in this book, slavery is worse than death, and yet just because of the whim of the king that is overlooked to achieve the goal. Much like the manilla, which was the currency of West Africa directly got integrated into the slave trade instead of gold, leaving the Manilla to be a symbolization of the objectified people.

Much Like Imonda from Oroonoko, who was sold to the highest slave traders. While the manilla was the real world symbolic figure of the slave trade, Imonda could as well be seen as the embodiment within the story. Seeing as she had been treated like property well before she was a slave. In the story, we see that with the blessing of the veil and even before that with the desire of just wanting Imonda to be their wife, Imonda being nothing but a stigma character becomes the passive rising action. Her only important quality is that she is sold to slavery and then eventually killed.

She much like the manilla, became a second-hand figure that was taken over by the more significant topic, Oroonoko, and Slavery respectively. Now, while the manilla continues to be an active currency in West Africa, despite its past, the same could not be said about Imonda. In fact as a character, One can say that Aphra Behn simply used Imonda as a scapegoat either, for some strange affection for Oroonoko or to show the peculiar mindset of “Death is better than slavery” that many of the people in this story once thought. It was the King in Oronoco, clearly states that to be true, yet when Imonda is incapable of becoming his possessions. His option is to sell her off, for no mere reason but the fact that it, pushes the story forward in a way. Moreover, as stated Before Imonda even before then was objectified merely because she was beautiful and probably because she was just around Even a veil that she wears given to her by the king is a symbol of her being an objectified as she is bound to the ownership of the king. It’s to the point where she even has to report that she cannot be with the king because Oroonoko has already taken that place She is then discarded by being sold and Oroonoko learns that she’s been put to death, and from that point on her character is not essential until after Oroonoko finds out that she’s actually in fact alive.

Imoinda once again becomes an important character after the fact that she becomes pregnant, Oroonoko plans the escape just so that he and his family can live. She once again becomes a rising plot only to be killed afterward, and not even with her consent. Oroonoko decides that it be best for them all for her to die then three days later he gets captured and killed himself. She’s a item and caught slave to her own life much like the Manilla where things just happen to it because it is not seen as anything import and against its will it is used for such maniacal stuff She has no right to her own life her death yet somehow she is an important character just like the Manila who had no son 8 in being a part of slave trade and became something important that was later forgotten by time

Image;

The New York Public Library’s The Schomburg Center for Research in Black   Culture:           “In Motion: The African American Migration Experience”:http://www.inmotionaame.org/gallery/detail.cfm?migration=1&topic=99&id=297998&page=5&type=image

Aphera Behn’s  Oroonko

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.