While the some similarities in the autobiographies of Olaudah Equiano and Frederick Douglas are notable the differences are pronounced. The autobiographies are about both two black men and their hardship of being a slave, the main differences in the stories is the setting, they way they were treated, and their writing style. The setting in the story The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano takes place on a slave ship heading to the West Indies.While in the story Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass the setting is at Mr.Covey (a slave breaker) plantation. Olaudah Equiano story takes place around 1756 while Frederick Douglass story takes place in the early nineteenth century. There were similarities and differences
Olaudah Equiano was not an American born slave. He was born and raised well into his childhood in Africa with his family. His slave narrative, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustav Vassa, the African, published in New York in 1791 however, had a lasting impact on America as it described the inhumane treatment of Africans being sold into slavery (Baym 1: 687). Equiano’s initial concept of freedom stemmed from his childhood of which he speaks very fondly, describing his homeland as a “nation of dancers, musicians and poets,” a...
I believe both clips would be a thorough way to help people understand the horrors of slavery. Clip 2 describes Douglass's two masters Captain Anthony and his overseer Mr. Plummer. Douglass states that Captain Anthony, "He was a cruel man, hardened by a long life of slaveholding. He would at times seem to take great pleasure in whipping a slave." (Clip 2) His overseer Mr. Plummer "was a miserable drunkard, a profane swearer, and a savage monster" (Clip 2) he was known to have cut and slash women's head so horribly that even the Master, the cruel man that he was, would at times be so outraged at his cruelty that he would threaten to whip him. They were terrible to their slaves and what they would do to them, Aunt Hester being an example. During
During the 1600’s people began to look for different types of work in the new world. As cash crops, such as tobacco, indigo, and rice, were growing in the South, there became a need for labor. This got the attention of convicts, debtors, and other people looking for new opportunities and money. Indentured servitude was vastly growing during the 17th and 18th centuries. Approximatively 10 million men, women, and children were moved to the new world. Women during this time found themselves being sold to men for these cash crops. A commonly used term during this time for these women was tobacco brides. Almost 7.7 million of the slaves captured and moved to the new world were African Americans. Slaves and indentured servants had it rough for
The writings of Frederick Douglass and Captain Canot both discuss the institution of slavery. However, each piece of writing was written for a different purpose. Frederick Douglass’s writing was written to show how inhumane slavery was, and how wrong it was. Whereas Captain Canot’s writing basically bragged about how “humane” he treated the slaves on his ship. However, both men made some of the same points with similar evidence.
Imagine growing up in a society where a person is restricted to learn because of his or her ethnicity? This experience would be awful and very emotional for one to go through. Sherman Alexie and Fredrick Douglas are examples of prodigies who grew up in a less fortunate community. Both men experienced complications in similar and different ways; these experiences shaped them into men who wanted equal education for all. To begin, one should understand the writers background. Sherman Alexie wrote about his life as a young Spokane Indian boy and the life he experienced (page 15). He wrote to encourage people to step outside their comfort zone and be herd throughout education. Similar to Alexie’s life experience, Fredrick
History has revealed that it is through the struggles and difficulties, that the good men and women come to light for doing what is right. These revolutionary men and women risk their lives going against what is morally wrong and fight for what they believe is right. One of these revolutionaries was Frederick Douglass. He was revered for escaping for doing what many slaves never thought would be possible. Through the different stages in his life as a slave, a free man, and an abolitionist, he proved himself worthy of admiration and respect.
The autobiography of Olaudah Equiano, first published in 1789, is the first example of a slave narrative. Unlike most of the class, I took it upon myself to read the entire story of Equiano’s Travels, abridged and edited by Paul Edwards. In that version, as in the version represented in The Norton Anthology American Literature Shorter Fifth Edition, the journey of Olaudah Equiano is expressed in his own words, from his own point of view. That makes this writing a truly unique piece of literature. It is not only the first slave narrative but also one of the only ones written pre-civil war by a former slave, and someone seized from Africa. These facts give the writing a unique feel, for it is the words of a man that was born a free man, raised to be a ruler of his tribe, kidnapped and made into a slave as a young child, and then journeying through life to become once again free as a mature adult. Equiano experienced almost all parts of a slave’s existence. He was a slave throughout Africa, England, and the New World.
Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, and Olaudah Equiano all have extremely interesting slave narratives. During their lives, they faced plenty of racist discrimination and troubling moments. They were all forced into slavery at an awfully young age and they all had to fight for their freedom. In 1797, Truth was born into slavery in New York with the name of Isabella Van Wagener. She was a slave for most of her life and eventually got emancipated. Truth was an immense women’s suffrage activist. She went on to preach about her religious life, become apart of the abolitionist movement, and give public speeches. Truth wrote a well-known personal experience called An Account of an Experience with Discrimination, and she gave a few famous speech called Ain’t I a Woman? and Speech at New York City Convention. In 1818, Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born into slavery in Tuckahoe, Maryland. When he was older, he made an escape plan by disguising himself as a sailor and going on a train to New York. When he became a free man, he changed his name to Frederick Douglass and married Anna Murray. He went on to give many speeches and he became apart of the Anti-Slavery Society. Douglass wrote his story From My Bondage and My Freedom and became a publisher for a newspaper. In 1745, Olaudah Equiano was born in Essaka, Nigeria. Equiano and his sister were both kidnapped and put on the middle passage from Africa to Barbados and then finally to Virginia. He eventually saved enough money to buy his freedom and got married to Susanna Cullen. Equiano wrote his story down and named it From the Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. He spent the rest of his life promoting the abolition movement. Throughout the personal slave narra...
Education is a privilege. The knowledge gained through education enables an individual’s potential to be optimally utilized owing to training of the human mind, and enlarge their view over the world. Both “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” by Frederick Douglass himself and “Old Times on the Mississippi” by Mark Twain explore the idea of education. The two autobiographies are extremely different; one was written by a former slave, while the other was written by a white man. Hence, it is to be expected that both men had had different motivations to get an education, and different processes of acquiring education. Their results of education, however, were fairly similar.
The late 1700’s and early 1800’s were a very pressing time in history regarding slavery and tobacco production. There were numerous altering opinions on these topics, and some were voiced better than others. The people that were more concerned with these issues wrote articles about them. The first article was written in 1775 when a traveller wrote about the effects tobacco production on the land in Virginia and Maryland. About twelve years after that, Thomas Jefferson wrote his article on his thoughts of slavery and how he believed that blacks were naturally inferior to whites. Contradictory to Jefferson, there were also articles written by slaves that had taught themselves to write. Frederick Douglas and Olaudah Equiano were both slaves during this time. Douglas wrote about the struggles and consequences of learning to
In this final research analysis, I will be doing a comparison between the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” and the “Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” to show how both Douglass and Rowlandson use a great deal of person strength and faith in God to endure their life and ultimately gain their freedom.
In every culture, there are the strong and there are the weak, the oppressor and the oppressed. Sometimes they are of the same race and sometimes not, but they all rely on a difference in power. Socrates, Frederick Douglass, and W.E.B. Du Bois each experience this power differential through the course of their lives. Socrates experiences this through his experience with the jury of Athens and his trial; Douglass through his life as a slave and his eventual escape. Du Bois experiences it through being a black man in the time of Reconstruction and being well off in comparison to other African-Americans at the time. Each man’s unique perspective on equality can illuminate why authority is so instrumental in the development of equality.
Both Frederick Douglas and David Walker wrote against slavery. Frederick Douglas used his personal account as an enslaved man to share the evils of slavery and get his voice heard. His work is written like a novel with his commentary on the situations and his beliefs as the story continues. While the slave narrative was a large piece in the abolitionist movement, David Walker chooses a different approach than others. He wrote an Appeal, much like a legal document in which he argued his personal viewpoints against the institution of slavery but with a great deal of imagery. Although both works are abolitionist literature, the content and type of work are different from one another. The works have similarities and differences and also serve to
Religion, more specifically, Christianity can be seen throughout The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. Religion plays a major role in Equiano’s remarkable journey; that of which can be seen through his personal experiences. Religion plays a significant role in his Narrative and his life overall as he undergoes a spiritual rebirth. This narrative shapes Equiano’s physical move from slavery to freedom and also his journey from sin to salvation.
They both approached their story with a "rags-to-riches" idea. In addition, we must realize that both Franklin and Douglass are powerful writers. In that sense, I mean that Franklin was a "well-educated" man in which he filled his life with bountiful knowledge through reading and productive dialogues with peers. On the other hand, Douglass mode of writing, like ones of William Lloyd Garrison's is sentimental and contains compelling language.In The Autobiography by Franklin and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Douglass, both narrations are generally composed of series of life events and encounters with hardship that eventually brought them success. I shall put forth some parallel ideas of both the authors have in common. In Franklin's Autobiography, his chapters of life events and improvements are symbolized by his travels, especially on the boat. His first travel signifies his "new beginning" and it caused great hardship. He was "cut so a miserable figure" when he started out. (Franklin, 1771:196). However, Franklin was quick to gain ground. His move to another city or country signified his advancement and his prologue to his success to come are in his description of his boat travels. By this I mean that, Franklin intentionally gave the details of his boat travels to prepare the reader for the kind of successes or failure that he was going to face in the next chapter of his life. For example, he described his first travel as an unpleasant one, and nevertheless his first move to another city was a struggle. In Franklin's later travels, he spoke of being around some prominent figures such as Governor Hamilton and nonetheless, he landed with a successful job at a famous Printing House in Bartholomew. With this characteristic in mind, Douglass's narration ...