Olaudah Equiano: Recalling the Middle Passage

Author: Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797), also known as Gustavus Vassa.
Significance: A freed slave and prominent African abolitionist in London who published his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, in 1789.
Context: This excerpt details his brutal experience during the Middle Passage, the voyage across the Atlantic to the Caribbean.

Initial Reaction: Upon seeing the slave ship at anchor, Equiano was Alled with "astonishment" which quickly turned to "terror" when he was carried on board.
First Impressions: He was handled and tossed by the crew to see if he was "sound." He believed the white men, with their different complexions, long hair, and unknown language, were "bad spirits" who intended to kill him.
Psychological Toll: The sight of a large furnace (copper boiling) and chained black people in dejection caused Equiano to faint on the deck.

Physical Abuse: Equiano was severely Togged for refusing to eat. He witnessed other African prisoners whipped hourly for the same or for attempting to jump overboard.
The Hold: The atmosphere below deck was "pestilential" due to the "loathsome" stench, extreme heat, and overcrowding. Many slaves died from lack of fresh air and the Alth of the "necessary tubs."
Constraints: While most were kept in "fetters" (shackles), Equiano was often kept on deck without irons because of his "extreme youth" and illness.

Inquiries to Countrymen: Equiano expressed his fears to other Igbo captives through several questions: - Question: He asked "if these people had no country, but lived in this hollow place (the ship)." - Response: They told him they came from a distant land. - Question: He asked "how comes it in all our country we never heard of them?" - Response: They lived very far oL. - Question: He asked "where were their women? had they any like themselves?" - Response: They had women, but they were left behind. - Question: He asked "how the vessel could go?" - Response: They explained the use of masts and ropes, though Equiano initially believed the white men used "spell or magic."

Attempts: Two men chained together jumped into the sea, preferring death to misery; they were followed by a third dejected man.
Consequences: Two drowned, while the third was rescued and Togged "unmercifully" to deter others from preferring death to slavery.

Landing: The ship anchored at Bridge Town, Barbados. To calm the captives' fear of being eaten, "old slaves" from the land were brought on board to explain they were there to work.
The Sale: Sold in a merchant's yard via a "signal" (the beat of a drum), where buyers rushed in to choose "parcels" of slaves.
Social Impact: The process was conducted "without scruple," resulting in the permanent separation of relations and friends.