Olaudah Equiano

Olaudah Equiano was the 11 year old son of an African tribal leader who was kidnapped in 1755 from Nigeria.The following is an African chant mourning the loss of Equiano:

"Who are we looking for, who are we looking for?
It's Equiano we're looking for.
Has he gone to the stream? Let him come back.
Has he gone to the farm? Let him return.
It's Equiano we're looking for."

Olaudah was one of twelve million Africans in South America who were taken and sold into slavery. He was one of the most prominent black campaigners in the anti-slavery campaign. He was an ex-slave who, by the 1780s' lived as a free man in London. He is mostly remembered for his 1789 autobiography. It tells of his kidnapping in Nigeria, being sold into slavery, His journey to the West Indies, his life as a slave and his struggle to buy his freedom. In his autobiography he describes his voyage on a slave ship. The following is a brief summary of his experience.

"Let it suffice to say, that I was lost to my dear indulgent parents and relations, and they to me. All my help was cries and tears, and these could not avail; nor suffered long, till one succeeding woe, and dread, swelled up another". Brought from a state of innocence and freedom, and, in a barbarous cruel manner, conveyed to a state of horror and slavery... The grievous thoughts which I then felt, still pant in my heart; though my fears and tears have long subsided, yet it is still grievous to think that thousands more have suffered in similar and greater distress.

"Being in this dreadful captivity and horrible slavery, without any hope of deliverance... beholding the most dreadful scenes of misery and cruelty, and seeing my miserable companions often cruelly lashed, and cut to pieces, for the most trifling of faults; this made me often tremble and weep... For eating a piece of sugarcane, some were cruelly lashed, or struck over the face to knock their teeth out."

When I was forced to the lower deck, I was greeted by the worst stench I had ever experienced in my life. This stench combined with the sound of other crys, made me lose my appetite while on board. It made me wish for death, suddenly it seemed as though death was a friend to me and I welcomed it. Soon after I was brought aboard the ship, two white men offered me some food, and when I declined to eat it, they grabbed me by my hands, laid me down, tied me up and flogged me severely.

I will never forget "The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, that rendered the whole scene of horror almost inconceivable... I expected every hour to share the fate of my companions, some of whom were almost daily brought upon deck at the point of death, which I began to hope would soon put an end to my miseries. Often did I think many of the inhabitants of the deep sea were much more happy than myself. I envied them, the freedom they enjoyed, and often wished I could change my condition for theirs. Every circumstance I met with, served only to render my state more painful, and heighten my apprehensions, and my opinion of the cruelty of the whites".

There were other men during this journey that were whipped hourly due to their refusal to eat. Their refusal to eat was one more attempt made by Africans to kill themselves to avoid spending anymore time on the ship. Olaudah, who was not used to the water and feared it, contemplated jumping overboard to his death many times during his journey. However, he was never able to do so, because he was watched too closely by guards.

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ism/slavery/equiano_aboard.asp
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1narr4.html

General Conditions

Most ships took 60 to 90 days to cross the Atlantic, but it could take longer depending on the weather. The conditions the slaves where forced to endure while on this never-ending voyages where horrific. They were treated like cattle, even branded with their owner's marks under their breast on or their arms at times. They were forced to lay between the decks, often so close that they touched one another, and lay beside each other in a spoon like fashion. The slaves were so close together that they sometimes laid in each other's feces, urine, or even blood. There was very little air that was allowed to these lower decks. The lack of airflow combined with the scorching hot temperatures at these lower decks to create a horrible stench. This also allowed diseases such as smallpox and yellow fever to spread rampantly among the slaves.

While aboard the ships women were often sexually abused. On one ship, captained by John Newton, a female slave who was visibly pregnant was seduced into a room and raped with brutelike force. To ensure that man were well behaved, they were shackled together at their wrists and ankles. If anyone did misbehave they were punished with whips and iron muzzles.

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/slaveship.htm
http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ism/slavery/newton_aboard.asp
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1narr4.html

General Conditions

When slave ships crossed the Atlantic it generally took 60 to 90 days, however depending on the weather, it could take longer. When the slaves were on these ships they were treated horrifically, like animals. They were often packed into spaces that left them little room to move. They often had to lay in a spoon like fashion pressed up to the people beside them. They were forced to lay so close that often times they would lay in each other's feces, urine, and sometimes blood and they were often nude. This constant closeness made diseases like smallpox and yellow fever spread rampantly.

The stench aboard the ships was normally horrible. The decks of the ships that held the slaves often had very little airflow and was incredibly hot, often making the stench unbearable. The men were shackled together by the wrist and ankle, and the women were often sexually abused. Aboard a ship that was captained by John Newton, one of the men seduced a slave woman who was visibly pregnant, to the lower deck and took advantage of her with brute like force. If slaves misbehaved they would be punished with iron muzzles and whips.