The Horrors of a Slave Ship by Olaudah Equiano

The Horrors of a Slave Ship by Olaudah Equiano
Term Paper I

The Horrors of a Slave Ship by Olaudah Equiano
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Lisa Simpson
Houston Community College
HIST-1301
Professor Rodolfo C. Villarreal
June 13, 2019
The Horrors of a Slave Ship was a small excerpt from the autobiography The Interesting
Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Olaudah Equiano
published the book in 1789 and the article details the specific events that transpired from his
initial kidnapping as a young boy, to being sold as a slave. Equiano hoped that testifying his
personal experiences with slavery would help bring awareness to the importance of the anti-
slavery movement during that time.
Growing up, both Equiano and his sister were taught about war and to be aware of
kidnappers that may approach their village. The boys would get up in trees and keep watch
while their parents were away because then kidnappers would take the opportunity to attack the
village and take as many children as possible. It was during one of these misfortunate instances
that Equiano and his sister were both kidnapped. The men tied their hands, covered their mouths
and dragged them through the woods for days until they got to their destination. Shortly after,
Equiano and his sister were sold separated into slavery.
Time had passed when at one point while traveling with his master, Equiano came across
his sister and was filled with a joy that was missed. The short time that he was able to spend
with his beloved sister seemed to have made all his worries disappear. It was a joy that was short
lived because that was the last time he ever saw her. His pain grew even greater after that point
and had struggled with much more anxiety from not being able to protect her freedom or from
the unknown pain she would endure as a slave. This spoke wonders on Equianos character as a
brother. His family was important to him and longed to be his sisters protector from all evils
she encountered.
The Equiano spent the next several months traveling by land and sea. During that time
he got the opportunity to experience many new things, such as new foods and animals. He even
had the chance to surround himself with people from other cultures. One memory that stood out
the most was being sold to a merchant that was predominantly wealthy. The family treated him
with the respect and dignity that he missed and waited for. He was allowed to eat with the
family at the table and was even given the opportunity to eat before the merchants son because
he was the eldest child in the household. The merchant treated him and the other slaves as her
own. It made Equiano feel like home and ultimately forget that he was a slave at all. But once
that momentary situation came to an end, his real pain began shortly after.
Ultimately, Equiano ended up at a coast where a slave ship awaited him and many others.
So many emotions ran through his mind. Were they going on the ship to die? Where they going
to be beaten by the masters? It did not take long thereafter when he lost all hope of returning to
his home. Equiano stepped foot inside the ship and was overwhelmed with an odor far worse
that he could imagine. Slaves were overwhelmingly piled on top of each other in small spaces,
such as the cargo area. He became sick the first day he went inside and couldnt eat. The
Europeans then tied him up and gave him a beating because of it. They had a rule that everyone
that was on board needed to eat on a daily basis.
Equiano was lucky enough to remain on the deck of the boat while the Europeans waited
for other slaves to arrive. Equiano recalls the astonishing feeling he felt the first time he saw
another ship stop to let the passengers out. He was captivated from the sight, even to the point
where he determined that it was being done with some type of magic.
But being inside the ship was nothing that he had anticipated. The many bodies pushing
amongst one another causing a smell inside the ships had triggered a sickness amongst the
slaves. The sickness was so severe many died due to what was going on, even mothers along
with their children. During the time at sea, several slaves took it upon themselves to end their
life because the thought of suffocating one additional day in the small chambers was too
overbearing. They assumed a life with suffering was not a life worth living. Equiano suffered
from this same thought process and began to question the many things that life and religion had
to offer. His own beliefs were left with doubt and speculated why so many disheartening things
occur to people, included himself.
Slavery lasted far longer than it should have, but many brave men and women fought and
struggled to put an end to these injustices. People such as Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd
Garrison, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Angelina Grimke worked hard to push the agenda of the
abolitionist movement, which ultimately became known as the anti-slavery society. It was
many years after Olaudah published his book that slavery finally came to an end, but his efforts
were nonetheless important and left an impact. Even with all of the time and hard work it took to
get there, many years later African Americans and many other minorities still seem to struggle
with racial equality in the United States.
From racial bias associated with policing, higher sentencing and incarceration rates, to
kids dealing with differential punishments in schools, these are the facts that we face in our
current society. These issues will not disappear any time soon, and I do not believe that the
United States will ever become a racially just society. But what I do believe is that we must
continue to be vocal about these problems and fight the inequalities and policies put in place to
keep minorities stagnant. Exceeding the expectations of others is a far better victory and it is our
responsibility to prove it to ourselves that anything is achievable.
Olaudah Equiano stood brave during a time that many couldnt or wouldnt. He spoke in
great detail of the injustices and pain that he endured while being enslaved for reasons far bigger
than himself. He knew that exposing the unpleasant truth behind it would help push his goal to
have it abolished. The level of detail that Equiano spoke about each event that took place gave
him that much more power because he was able to learn, grow, and move forward from the
circumstances that he was presented with. This is a prime example of the importance of telling
ones story and how it can also heavily impact an audiences current and past circumstances.