Many African men and women became slaves in the Atlantic. The vast majority would spend the whole of their lives toiling in fields, never to see the world and never to be educated. Ouladah Equiano was an exception. Working at sea and under some more liberal masters, Equiano received an education and the ability to record his life in a memoir. In his life, he would lose freedom and gain it back only to realize that true freedom comes with faith. Meanwhile in mortal life, the little freedom available in the Atlantic was dependent on conforming to European ways.
Upon entering the state of slavery, Equiano desired freedom. Though he was in awe of his European captures, he saw them as “sable destroyers of human rights” (Equiano, 29). He condoned the “inhuman traffic of slavery” (Equiano, 251) which so corrupted man and felt that the life of a slave meant, “being daily exposed to new hardships and impositions” (Equiano, 113). Equiano envied the free Europeans he worked with and began to take on their customs and languages. He thought if he bought his release from slavery, he would be free. Once he final procured his release he realized that no longer being a slave did not perfectly equate with being free. Life as a slave had been “dreadful; but the state of a free negro appeared to [him] now equally so at least, and in some respects even worse” (Equiano, 117). A freed slave must constantly guard his liberty while blocking constant insult with no chance of redress. With this realization Equiano pored himself into his faith.
Equiano had long associated religion with freedom. As a young slave he argued that his master "could not sell [him]” since he had “been baptized; and by the laws of the land no man ha[d] a right to sell [him]" (Equiano, 176). He could not see how religion could ever support slavery since it gave “one man a dominion over his fellows which God could never intend” (Equiano, 104). The more time Equiano spends as a free man the more he realizes that in the worlds current state his best chance to be truly free is to have a spiritual freedom and hope that other Christians see and respect that freedom. Once Equiano feels he has reached this place for himself, he works to spread his message in hopes of helping all Africans one day reach the equality of freedom and respect.
Equiano despises Europeans for practicing slavery, but still wishes to emulate them. This dilemma is a mark of the complexity of the relationship between Europe and Africa at this time. Even with the fatal flaw of slavery, Equiano views Europeans as more advanced. After all slavery in not purely a European institution as Equiano’s homeland had slavery as well. He asks Europeans to recall their “ancestors were once, like the Africans, uncivilized, and even barbarous” (Equiano, 43), showing that he feels Africa is behind Europe, but should not be penalized for it. He wants Europe, as the advanced nation, to help lead Africa to an age of enlightenment, instead of taking advantage of their disadvantage. Even his ultimate realization of freedom through religion is dependent on adoption of European customs as Christianity is the religion he practices. Equiano clearly feels that to reach freedom, Africans need to become more like Europeans, a sentiment not shared by all.
Equiano believed the “abolition of slavery would be in reality an universal good” (Equiano, 252), but his road to abolition, to freedom, required following in the footsteps of Europe and in the grace of god. Those Africans in chains too longed for freedom, but some of them wanted to return to Africa and cut ties with Europe, others would not mind as much staying, but held fast their own customs. In his life, Equiano had even worked on one of the ships destined to return Africans to Africa. Equiano was different from many slaves in his worldliness and education, which caused him to be more exposed to Europeans and their ways. This exposure could explain his personal belief that freedom could be obtained through Christianity (the religion of Europeans) and his desire to emulate Europeans. It is not incidental that Equiano was only able to reach his final belief of what freedom is after being “free” in the company of Europeans.
I really like that you looked at this paper from a more religious angle. Religion was obviously important to Equiano and he frequently references it in his account. You use a lot of good quotes which I think really strengthened your argument. I think you make a good point in that Equiano was very conflicted because he admired Europeans but also denounced them for fueling the slave trade. Another aspect of that relationship I wish you had looked at is how does slavery make the Europeans less civilized. Are the Africans the only ones who hurt because of the slave trade?
ReplyDeleteOne thing that you should watch out for are grammatical mistakes. There were a few technical errors which detracted from the overall quality of the paper. There were a few instances of misspellings for instance you said pore when you meant pour. Additionally there were some places where your wording didn't make sense you said condoned where I believe you meant condemned. These are just things to be aware of for your bibliographic review.
Overall I thought you did a good job with this paper!
Religion was definitely something Equiano conceptualized as a form of freedom. Your paper's main argument is that he associated religion with freedom and that in order to achieve even a small amount of freedom, one had to conform to European ways. This concept is sufficiently supported in your paper and the quotes you provided work well towards your argument. I think the examples you give lend to the idea that Equiano had to give in to some “necessary evils” in order to achieve his goal of freedom. By attempting to emulate Europeans, he was able to use Christianity as a tool of sorts to argue for freedoms and “enlightenment” for African slaves. While your paper's focus of religion and the emulation of Europeans to explain Equiano's concept of freedom seems limited, in the sense that he had other concepts of what freedom was, your paper is strong because of the evidence and quotes you implement to support it.
ReplyDeleteI too enjoyed your paper. Religion in my opinion was the most important thing to fuel Equiano. You touched on all of his experiences and explained the inner most importance of having faith, not necessary in just Christianity but just faith. I think that the examples that you used really showed his despise for being a slave stating that they were “sable destroyers of human rights”. Other than some grammatical errors I found this to be a good paper.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous postings in that Equiano concept of freedom was wrapped in his Christian beliefs, which your essay covers nicely. His belief that via a Christian worldview, slavery could not be tolerated, was the basis for his concept of freedom and his for the way Europeans should view Africans, not as “barbarous” but as men.
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