EQUIANO DISREGARDS HIS PAST Olaudah Equiano’s, The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings, portrays the life of a little boy who is enslaved early in life until the time when he is capable to buy his own freedom from his masters. Many critics who have read his biography have said that he detaches himself from his own people; he betrays other Africans by condoning slavery. Equiano’s life was lived in slavery, serving others, taking orders, being beaten and not having the life of a “free” man. He talks about the life of an enslaved man, the various experiences, tragedies, hangings, beatings, and cruelties. Although, when Equiano is awarded his freedom, he acts as if he never lived an enslaved life.
Another example of his viewpoint on the effects of the institution of slavery is found when Solomon is observing the son of Mr. Epps, his last master, dealing with Uncle Abram, one of the slaves, “The child is father to the man…The influence of the iniquitous system necessarily fosters an unfeeling and cruel spirit, even in the bosoms of those who, among their equal, are regarded as humane and generous.” Pg. 261. Northup makes other similar observations throughout the book, which also help convey his viewpoint on slavery as an
To understand what it was like to be a slave during the time period of Frederick Douglass is unimaginable. To live in the type of environment that Frederick did and be treated as an inexhaustible resource, let alone be taken from your mother at birth, is hard to fathom. The struggles that Frederick portrays in his narrative could even possibly be considered miniscule compared to the endless torture others, who didn’t escape, endured. Frederick Douglass offers a unique and eye opening perspective into the life and journey from a slave to a free man. Frederick, born in Tuckahoe, Maryland, only aware that he was born around 1818, is born into a greater disadvantage than most slaves in that his father is a white man.
A Comparative of Odysseys Between 1841 and 1900, some of the biggest changes in American history were made. Slavery was questioned and abolished; the civil war occurred, former slaves were given the right to vote, railroads were developed, and political corruptness was becoming more and more difficult to control in the South. Louisiana was at the forefront of these changes, and two men had particularly remarkable experiences here. Carnival of Fury and Twelve Years a Slave explore the lives of two men who came to Louisiana for very different reasons during two different but similar eras. Solomon Northup’s Twelve Years a Slave, is an autobiography about a free man who was tricked into slavery in the 1840s.
A historical situation where human rights have been abused is when there was slavery. Slaves were treated like objects that were abused and tortured by their masters. The slaves struggled to achieve human rights with the help of the Underground Railroad, which is a network of whites and free blacks. Harriet Tubman was a conductor of the Underground Railroad who helped free the slaves which in turn lead to abolitionists and their campaign to free the slaves and help get them back their rights as humans. For many centuries Europeans went to Africa and took the people there by force.
As a young man, Ball was sold and separated from his wife and children to a slave trader. After this, he describes his journey through personal accounts in an autobiography called, Narrative of the Life and Adventure of Charles Ball. He explains several situations that occurred as he was sold from one place to another. At one point he managed to escape but was later on recaptured and placed into slavery again. His story is atypical because unlike others he managed to keep his composure.
Bound for Canaan The Epic Story of the Underground Railroad, America’s first Civil Rights Movement Author: Fergus M. Bordewich Written By; Noel Lemley In this book the author, Fergus M. Bordewich, describes several stories in regards to how the Underground Railroad became established. He goes on to talking about how some whites helped slaves become free just because they believed it was the right thing to do, such as; Isaac Hopper, Levi Coffin, John Rankin. All of these men have contributed in their own way in order to keep the Underground Railroad running. These men went through obstacles, jeopardized their own lives and their families lives for the sake of what was right and what everybody should have; in their eyes. They differed from other whites because of their belief that God created everyone equal, no matter the color of their skin.
He was a very influential person in the abolition of slaves. Just as Frederic Douglass did, he wrote an autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, that discusses the time spent in slavery, how served on vessels and how gained his independence by his own. In his youth he was kidnapped along with his little sister and they were separate from each other. Equiano changed hands a few times before being shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. In Equiano’s narrative he describes how cruel was the treatment of slaves.
“Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass” The “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass” written by himself and published at The Anti- Slavery Office in 1845, is a descriptive insight to how his life was during and shortly after slavery. The book takes us through different accounts of abuse, neglect and hardships that mold Frederick into the inspirational man he would soon become. It begins with Douglass as a young boy losing his mother and all connections to family and safety. He then recollects the numerous slaveholders he belonged to or worked for and how each of them treated their slaves, or as some of them thought, their belongings. Around his late teens, early twenties he begins to explore and highly consider the idea of escaping to the free states in the north.
Douglass also spoke of one of the greatest crosses he had to bare that of learning to read. “As I writhed under it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy” (Douglass p. 214). It made Douglass more intolerable as his position as a slave. One reason Douglass didn’t escape earlier because he now lived with a double edged sword, one edge wanting to be free and the other edge that he stayed in slavery to fulfill his desire to