Week 3 Slave Narratives

This piece of writing was very powerful in the vivid details he includes in his journey on the boat over to America. The torture that he endured for not doing what he was told, to the quarters they were given on the boat. Reading about the way they were subjected to live was awful. To know that you did not have any space to move would be so uncomfortable. As well as living in the same spaces with the stench of the dead and of bodily functions would be unbearable. He said that at times it was "unfit for respiration" Once they had finally arrived he did became a slave and had a master who had him pick up goods all along the coast. We read that he was able to earn a small amount of money that he was saving for his freedom. When he realized his freedom he felt like he was finally awake. He felt a need to tell his story once he went back to England. A sense of awareness needed to be known by so many about the slave trade. He writes about the torture and every cruelty that the African Americans endure as slaves. He lets people know that their population would double if they were able to be in their own land. As well that in Africa cotton and indigo grow spontaneously and that they can provide it to be manufactured it they were free. Overall Olaudah Equiano was very inspiring in trying get his message across of the harsh reality that African Americans had to endure during this time. He did not hold back and let his reader know how awful they were treated and that they had no rights as humans.