Study Notes on Primary Sources and Slave Trade Narratives

Definition: Primary sources are documents and materials created by individuals who were eyewitnesses or participants in the events historians analyze to understand the past.
- Types of Primary Sources:
- Written Documents: journals, letters, newspapers, legal records, and government papers.
- Visual Documents: photographs, films, and works of art.
- Aural Documents: sound recordings and music.
- Use in Historical Analysis: Historians rely on primary sources to reconstruct past events and provide evidence supporting their interpretations and arguments.
Secondary Sources: The essays, articles, and books historians write about historical events when they are not eyewitnesses or participants.
- Example:
- Primary Source: A journal from an English slave trader in 1693.
- Secondary Source: A historian's book from 2001 interpreting aspects of the African slave trade using that journal.

Understanding the Source:
- Identify the topic or event.
- Determine the involved individuals and their communications or actions.
- Write a short summary of the source post-reading.
In-Depth Analysis:
- Author:
- Identify who created the source.
- Study the author's identity and background.
- Explore the purpose or motivation for creating the source and any influences of identity (place of origin, gender, race, social class, religion, etc.).
- Audience:
- Determine who the author intended to reach with the source.
- Understand whether the author aims to persuade, describe, or inform the audience.
- Analyze how the audience influences the author's interpretation.
- Reliability:
- Assess the source’s genuineness and reliability.
- Examine what information is excluded and theorize why.
- Evaluate if the author purposefully included or excluded certain details.

Step One – Formulate a Question and Argument:
- Focus your topic and develop your thesis statement.
- Identify the significant question your essay will address.
- Outline what insights your essay provides regarding the topic and the significance of your sources.
Step Two – Provide Historical Context:
- Situate sources within the relevant historical context.
- Explain how significant events and forces influenced the source's creation.
Step Three – Analyze Your Sources:
- Go beyond mere summarization and analyze the content and purpose of your source.
- Reflect on the questions developed during the prewriting stage to support your thesis.
- Begin each paragraph with a clear topic sentence summarizing the paragraph’s point of analysis.
Step Four – Provide Quotes to Support Your Points:
- Use quotes judiciously to enliven and substantiate your discussion points.
- Maintain a balance between quotes and your analysis; avoid quoting excessively.
Step Five – Make a Conclusion:
- Conclude by revisiting and tying together your main points and reiterating the thesis.
Step Six – Cite Your Sources:
- Follow the MLA format for citations, in-text references, and works cited pages. Consult relevant resources for guidance.

Content by Florida State College at Jacksonville is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Content: Captain Thomas Phillips describes interactions with an African king and his emissaries to acquire slaves.
Historical Context: Phillips’ ship was part of the Royal African Company, which dominated the West African slave trade.
Voyage Details:
- Phillips’ ship sailed from England to present-day Benin to acquire 700 slaves.
- Only 372 survived the trip to Barbados, a notably high mortality rate.
- The average mortality rate for slave ships during this time was around 20%.

Interactions with the King:
- King sent emissaries to welcome Phillips and his crew, reflecting negotiation customs and respect in trade.
- Described as attending a customary evening meeting with the king on arrival:
- King’s civility vs. actual dealings and deceit in negotiation.
- The significance of respecting local customs to maintain favorable trading terms.
Trade Negotiations:
- Goods and services exchanged with the king for slaves; prices contentious initially.
- Negotiations included assurances against theft and fair pricing.
- Included descriptions of a specific bell used to summon people for trading.

Phillips describes frequent illness among crew members and slaves, highlighting environmental conditions and diseases endured.
Accounts of psychological effects on Africans, including resistance such as suicide and mutiny, indicating the desperation felt among enslaved individuals.

Phillips lamented regarding racial perceptions, highlighting a developing notion of color prejudice in his account, reflecting on humanity regardless of skin color.

Early Life: Description of Olaudah’s kidnapping with his sister, familial ties, and subsequent separation to depict the emotional trauma experienced during slave raiding.
Cultural Childhood: Raised in a family of significance, involved in cultural practices until disruption by captivity.
- Narrative Elements:
- Captivity experienced as horror, explored in detail regarding emotional and physical strains during transport.
- Impressions of the slave ship highlight loss of autonomy and the transfer from one’s cultural identity to subjugation.
- First Impressions of Slavery: Equiano's descriptions capture the stark contrast between African life and the horrors aboard slave ships, including dynamics among captives.