Olaudah Equiano Research Paper

There are many different sides to slavery, whether people are for or against it. Slavery has changed names and forms throughout the years even after 1877. When people hear slavery they automatically think about how African Americans became enslaved, however there have been other groups of people and races that have been enslaved. There are many primary sources that help picture what it was like during these times, from how they were becoming slaves without knowing, how they were forced into slavery, how they were treated, and how they became free. Slavery had been around long before the colonization of North America. Many of the Africans were being traded for other goods. Many of the African Americans were being traded to Spain, to the Caribbean, …show more content…
Many slaves were never able to escape to freedom. Majority of the slaves died within serval years. However, there were a few slaves that were able to become free. One former slave named Olaudah Equiano, wrote “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa,” and Foner took an exert out of it and is named, “Olaudah Equiano on Slavery (1789)” in this it states how Olaudah Equiano was captured and sold onto slavery. He has firsthand knowledge on what happed since this is what happened to him. There could be reason to believe that he was biased to make his book seem more captivating. This was intended for a large audience it was meant for the public to see what he, as many else, went through. Equiano talks about how he was captured as a young boy, when he states “one day, when all of our people were gone out to, their works as usual, and only I and my dear sister were left to mind the house, two men and a woman got over our walls, and in a moment seized us both; and, without giving us the time to cry out, or make resistance, they stopped our mouths, tied our hands, and ran off with us into the nearest wood” (Foner, 64). This shows that men and woman would capture Africans to later sell them as slaves. He also talks about how he was treated, how he feared for his life, not knowing what was ahead of him. He talks about how they were sold off, how the buyers could rush to see the new set of …show more content…
While the slaves would read parts of the bible and say that the bible frowns upon slavery. In the Foner’s “Slavery and the Bible (1850)” from De Bow’s Review, it talking about how the bible could be interpreted different ways. It talks about ideas that have been developing during that time, that slavery was a good thing. De Bow’s Review seems to be bias considering they published the arguments that were pro slavery. The magazine article talks about how the bible approves slavery. It was intended for a large audience considering it was published. This was made to inform people, to give people an insight of how others interpreted the

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