Ouladah Equiano’s view of freedom was unique from other slave narratives in that he was not born in slavery, but was captured as a child and taken out of Africa with the slave trade. For a slave born into those circumstances, freedom is desirable even though he/she has never experienced it. But for a slave who was born free and later captured, knowing the freedom that was stolen from them would be a huge motivator to regain it.
Equiano saw freedom as that which was most desirable above all else. He had known freedom in Africa before it was taken away from him and he was determined to reclaim his freedom. At one point he was promised his freedom after a sea voyage, but was tricked into being sold upon reaching the island of Montserrat.
A freed or escaped black was continually fearful of being recaptured and sold again into slavery. When Equiano’s friend, John Annis, was reclaimed by his former owner, he unsuccessfully attempted to help free his friend. Equiano, also having known what it was to desire liberty, was determined to do whatever he could to ensure that his friend should not be returned to slavery.
Europeans also regarded freedom very highly, but seemed to believe it was something to aspire to or something that had to be earned rather than given freely. Equiano chastises those who refuse to teach slaves to read yet then claim they are uncivilized. He claims that most slaves are unable to study religion until after they have either escaped or been released from their masters. Equiano also rebukes those who do allow slaves to be taught religion yet then claim they are heathens.
Equiano and other enslaved Africans knew how valuable freedom was to a man. At the same time, Europeans also viewed freedom as quite valuable, although they believed that not all men were as deserving of liberty. Europeans claimed that African slaves were not civilized enough to be granted freedom, yet they never gave them the chance to learn anything and thus prove they could be civilized.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I would think that whether born a slave or not, Equiano and other Africans views on slavery would be the same. A slave probably only wanted one thing, their freedom. But what was it about freedom that they wanted? I think that to a slave, freedom meant having certain rights. For example, the right to work for wages, the right to marry whom the pleased, the right to move from one place to another, the right to chose a religion, etc. I guess what I’m not understanding in your essay, is what it is about this idea of freedom that Equiano and other slaves wanted. You mention that they wanted freedom, but why?
ReplyDeleteAll slaves ultimately wanted their freedom, but it was more important to the ones who were born free. I really like how you approached the questions. I did not recognized the subtitles of the articles that we read. Freedom had a much deeper meaning to slaves like Equiano. Slaves like these people would not consider anything less than complete freedom.
ReplyDeleteEuropeans did view freedom as something different, probably because they were the ones in power. Equiano recognized the problem with the European view on freedom. It would have been good if discussed more about why certain people were not granted freedom