Name: Date: Middle Passage - Snappington...The Classic Slave Narratives (New York: Mentor, 1987),...
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Life at Sea: Middle Passage Page 1 of 2 Name: __________________________________________ Date:______________ Middle Passage Olaudah Equiano, Enslaved African Man, 1756 Student Worksheet Historical Context: From the early days of the American colonies, forced labor and slavery grew to become a central part of colonial economic and labor systems. Hard labor made tobacco, rice, and sugar plantations profitable. Buying and enslaving the people who supplied this labor ultimately became a lucrative and tragic part of the commerce in the maritime web that connected Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The Atlantic slave trade was the largest forced migration of people by sea in history. First- person accounts of the Middle Passage are very rare. Olaudah Equiano’s first-person account recalls his terrifying journey as an 11-year-old captive aboard a slave ship from Africa to Barbados in 1756. Olaudah Equiano wrote an account of the Middle Passage in his 1789 autobiography. Recent scholarship has called into question Equiano’s place of birth and whether his narrative is, in fact, a firsthand account. Whether born in Africa or Carolina, many scholars agree that the basic content of Equiano’s narrative is a significant document that rings true. Instructions: Answer the questions on the next page using the accompanying primary sources found at: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/oral_histories/life_at_sea/equiano.htm. The questions are designed to help you practice working with historical documents . Some of these documents have been edited, but all are authentic. As you analyze the documents , take into account the source of each document and any point of view that may be presented in the document.
Transcript of Name: Date: Middle Passage - Snappington...The Classic Slave Narratives (New York: Mentor, 1987),...
LifeatSea:MiddlePassage Page1of2
Name: __________________________________________ Date:______________
Middle PassageOlaudah Equiano, Enslaved African Man, 1756
StudentWorksheet
Historical Context:
From the early days of the American colonies, forced labor and slavery grew to become a central part of colonial economic and labor systems. Hard labor made tobacco, rice, and sugar plantations profitable. Buying and enslaving the people who supplied this labor ultimately became a lucrative and tragic part of the commerce in the maritime web that connected Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
The Atlantic slave trade was the largest forced migration of people by sea in history. First-person accounts of the Middle Passage are very rare. Olaudah Equiano’s first-person account recalls his terrifying journey as an 11-year-old captive aboard a slave ship from Africa to Barbados in 1756.
Olaudah Equiano wrote an account of the Middle Passage in his 1789 autobiography. Recent scholarship has called into question Equiano’s place of birth and whether his narrative is, in fact, a firsthand account. Whether born in Africa or Carolina, many scholars agree that the basic content of Equiano’s narrative is a significant document that rings true.
Instructions:
Answer the questions on the next page using the accompanying primary sources found at: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/oral_histories/life_at_sea/equiano.htm.
The questions are designed to help you practice working with historical documents . Some of these documents have been edited, but all are authentic. As you analyze the documents , take into account the source of each document and any point of view that may be presented in the document.
LifeatSea:MiddlePassage Page2of2
Name: __________________________________________ Date:______________
Questions:
1. According to the words of Olaudah Equiano and referring to at least one supporting primary sources, state 3 conditions aboard the slave ship that would decrease his chances of surviving the journey.
2. Based on Olaudah Equiano’s account and one supporting primary source, cite evidence that indicates there were likely people from many African countries on this particular journey. You may use the written transcript to guide you.
Stories from Maritime America
The Middle PassageOlaudah Equiano describes his sickness and terror as an 11-year-old captive aboard aslave ship from Africa to Barbados in 1756.
From Olaudah Equiano, “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, orGustavus Vassa, the African,” in Henry Louis Gates, ed., The Classic Slave Narratives(New York: Mentor, 1987), pp. 32-37.
The fi rst object that saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea, anda slave ship…waiting for its cargo. These fi lled me with astonishment, that was soonconverted into terror…I was immediately handled and tossed up to see if I was sound, bysome of the crew; and I was now persuaded that I had got into a world of bad spirits, andthat they were going to kill me…
I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a salutation in mynostrils as I had never experienced in my life: so that, with the loathsomeness of thestench, and with my crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able toeat…I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two ofthe white men offered me eatables; and on my refusing to eat, one of them held me…andlaid me across, I think, the windlass, and tied my feet, while the other fl ogged meseverely…In a little time after, amongst the poor chained men, I found some of my ownnation…I inquired of these what was to be done with us. They gave me to understand wewere to be carried to these white people’s country to work for them. I was then a littlerevived…But still I feared that I should be put to death, the white people looked andacted, as I thought, in so savage a manner: for I had never seen such instances of brutalcruelty: and this is not only shown towards us blacks, but also to some of the whitesthemselves…I could not help expressing my fearful apprehensions to some of mycountrymen…I asked them how the vessel could go. They told me they could not tell; butthat there was cloth put upon the masts by the help of the ropes I saw, and then the vesselwent on; and the white men had some spell or magic they put in the water, when theyliked, in order to stop the vessel…
While we stayed on the coast I was mostly on deck; and one day…I saw one ofthese vessels coming in with the sails up…when the anchor was let go, I and mycountrymen who saw it, were lost in astonishment to observe the vessel stop, and werenow convinced it was done by magic…At last, when the ship…had got in all hercargo,… we were all put under deck…
PRIMARYSOURCE#1:Map of Africa, 1644
This map includes European names for parts of the West African coast where people were captured and held for the slave trade.
ThismapdemonstratesthatAfricawasnotonelargecountrybutanentirecontinentmadeupofdozensofnationsandhundredsoftribes.
PRIMARYSOURCE#2:Diagramofaslaveship.
