Enslavement and Treatment

Enslavement and Treatment

Question 1

Equiano’s account is not what I anticipated. Even though I already knew he was enslaved and expected his narration to have similar experiences to other enslaved people, it was more touching than I expected. Primarily, what surprised me from the account was how he and his sister were captured. This part invoked fearful emotions, and as I read through it, I imagined the same incident happening to me or my sister. I could imagine what the parents back home felt after realizing their son and daughter had been seized. This must have been devastating for them, and anyone who can imagine having their child disappear forever can relate. However, seemingly, this must have been expected during the slavery era. Even more surprising is how Equiano was separated from his sister. Equiano says that he wept and mourned repeatedly and did not eat anything for many days except what they fed him (Lovejoy, 2006).

The term I would use in describing Equiano’s tone is sad. Notably, there is sorrow in many sections as Equiano explains the things that he went through, from being captured to being enslaved and witnessing terrible things done to other black people. Also, the autobiography constitutes some horrifying sadness, which only invokes despair. In one instance, Equiano narrates that, on looking around the ship, he witnessed a giant copper furnace boiling and numerous black people of all types chained together, with each one of their features showing sadness and misery. At this point, he knew this would be his fate, which made him highly terrified; he fainted.

Question 2

I would describe William Beckford’s tone as calm. He intends to describe the occurrences calmly and make people understand the events. Additionally, the tone can also be cold because he does not have a lot of emotions about the horrible things the Negroes were undergoing. Some authors retelling the stories would make the audience feel more sadness towards the awful things that the Negroes were experiencing. I would describe his attitude towards the enslaved as non-sympathetic. After all the terrible things that he narrates regarding the slave experiences and eventually his support towards the uncouth slavery, this shows his lack of compassion and sympathy. He favors slave baptism and humane plantation management but supports slavery. He argues that the enslaved are not worse off than British workers and that eliminating slavery will lead to other countries taking Britain’s trade share. However, reading this piece is worthwhile because it is informative. One can learn much about slavery, the sublime cane field, what was happening, and the outcomes of abolition and emancipation. Overall, the piece is educative.

Question 3

In the plantation society, gender lines were utilized in dividing the fieldwork. Women were supposed to handle the less demanding tasks, while the men took on the highly physically demanding jobs. For instance, females controlled the construction while the men chopped the wood to build a fence. Additionally, the males plowed the grounds as the females dug. I would describe Nugent’s attitude toward the enslaved as compassionate and disapproving of slavery. She seemed to love the Negros and pitied some of the things that they went through. At one point, she started a dance with an old Negro male as the other men chose a partner as per service, age, or rank, and all of the people joined the dance. Her action of dancing with the old Negro man surprised Misses Murphy. This was an extraordinary action; other enslaved people almost fainted and could barely refrain from shedding tears. This was uncommon in the nation and amongst the enslaved people. She did not like many of the actions that defined slavery and disapproved of them. Accordingly, she did extraordinary things with the enslaved people, such as dancing. I would describe some of the relationships between blacks and whites as draining. Typically, the blacks were supposed to treat the whites with much respect, which must have been tiresome because they did not get the reference back.

Reference

Lovejoy, P. E. (2006). Autobiography and Memory: Gustavus Vassa, alias Olaudah Equiano, the African. Slavery and Abolition, 27(3), 317-347.

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Question 1
Equiano’s was among the first autobiographical accounts in English of the life of a formerly enslaved person. The details of his enslavement and treatment during the Middle Passage helped to galvanize the abolitionist movement in 1787. Is his account what you might have expected? What surprised you in this excerpt? How would you describe Equiano’s tone? Why does he adopt the tone he uses, do you think?

Question 2
There is a real lack of literature written by formerly enslaved Africans, Afro-Caribbeans, and African Americans, especially when compared with all that was written about Africans and plantation life by pro-slavery advocates like Beckford. How would you characterize Beckford’s tone? How would you describe his attitude toward the enslaved? Why is it worthwhile to read a piece like this?

Question 3

I have included this excerpt from Maria Nugent’s diaries to offer some perspective on women’s lives in the West Indian colonies. How does the role of women in plantation society compare with that of men? How would you describe Nugent’s attitude toward the enslaved and slavery? How would you describe some of the relationships between blacks and whites?