Paula Castro

Professor Rumore

English 302

20 March 2020

Archival Objects

Throughout the semester, we have explored different topics. However, slavery is at the heart of the majority of such topics. In the book Oroonoko by Aphra Behn, Oroonoko describes how his life changed, when he became a slave. Despite his wealth and power, Orookoko was enslaved because of the color of his skin. On page 37 the description of how Oroonoko fell into slavery is the following “they clapping great irons suddenly on the prince when he was leaped down in the hold to view that part of the vessel, and locking him fast down, secured him. The same treachery was used to all the rest; and all in one instant, in several places of the ship, were lashed fast in irons and betrayed to slavery” (Behn) suggesting that his own proximity to western colonizers and his westernization lead to his enslavement. Oroonoko was a prince, therefore he had royal blood making him special. He was given the name of Caesar, romanticizing his existence due to the ideas about beauty in the arts that the Romans possessed. However, all the admiration was just a result of his westernized ideas and behavior, not a result of who he really was. Even physically, Behn describes him as follows on page 15 “his eyes were the most awful that could be seen, and very piercing; the white of them being like snow, as were his teeth. His nose was rising and Roman instead of African and flat. His mouth, the finest shaped that could be seen, far from those great turned lips which are so natural to the rest of the Negroes” implying that he was only beautiful because he had physical traits similar to theirs and not because of who he was. Moreover, he had a Frenchman tutor, who was considered low blood in contrast with Oroonoko even though the Frenchman was European due to Oroonoko’s royal blood. Even though, Oroonoko knew a lot of things, he was still a slave. Therefore, we can conclude that as seen on the following chart slaves were just property to the owners. In the case of the record of Aaron, he was just one of many properties his owner had; and in the case of Oroonoko with his royal blood and knowledge, he was just property as well. Regardless of the special treatment that Oroonoko was given due to his skills and capabilities, he ended up being a number like Aaron in this slavery record of New York. 

Record Type	Enslaved Person
Year of Record	1813
County or Borough	New York
Locality	New York
Address of Owner or Name of House or Vessel	NYC Second African Burial Ground
Cemetery	NYC Second African Burial Ground
Number of Enslaved Persons	1
Adult Male Enslaved Persons	1
Enslaved Person Unique Code	LudAar01
Enslaved Person Last Name	Ludlow
Enslaved Person First Name	Aaron
Enslaved Person Birth Year	1778
Enslaved Person Death Year	1803
Source Document	NYCAfricanBurial2
Search Tag	CEM10002A

On the other hand, The Interesting Narrative by Olaudah Equiano is a book in which he describes his life as a slave and also his efforts to acquire his freedom. As we can see in the picture of the slaves working on a plantation in Brazil, we can get a sense of what Equiano was trying to escape from. He witnessed this image with his own eyes; and he was surprised to see how the slave owners were white Christians who preach about God, but treated other human beings as inferior. The picture of the slaves reveals the earthly work they go through, showing us a contrast to the salvation journey that Equiano describes in the book. This earthly work was institutionalized into them, just like Equiano is institutionalized in the book. Equiano basically tells us that, why would he run away if he was still going to be considered a slave? and this idea is reflected in this picture. This picture shows how people pacifically follow rules instead of a picture of a revolt, because the idea behind this scene is: why run away when you are not going to be free anyway? On page 122 Equiano says, “the state of a free negro appeared to me equally so at least, and in some respects even worse, for they live in constant alarm for their liberty, which is but nominal…in this situation, is it surprising that slaves, when mildly treated, should prefer even the misery of slavery to such a mockery of freedom?” implying that the people who have gained their freedom, have gained a fake freedom. This picture as well as Equiano’s narrative illuminate how institutionalization had a great impact in the lives of slaves. They were brainwashed in a way that they did not realize the power they had. In reality, they were a greater number and could revolt causing great damage to the plantation owners. However, they were punished in ways that they would not even attempt to revolt and such punishment was part of the institution of slavery. It is contradictory, how Equiano used the skills learned in the process of initialization to write this narrative that to some degree is manipulative and tries to convince the reader that we are all equal and naturally free.

In both books, the picture, and the slave record we can see that slaves were considered just property and had been institutionalized to believe so.  

Works Cited 

Behn, Aphran. Oroonoko. Penguin Books, 2016.

Equiano, Olaudah, and Vincent Carretta. The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings. Penguin Books, 2003.

“Names Index for Enslaved Persons.” New York Slavery Records Index, nyslavery.commons.gc.cuny.edu/names-index-for-enslaved-persons/.

“Slaves working on a plantation in Brazil (photograph by Marc Ferrez, 1882).” World Scholar: Latin America & the Caribbean, Gale, a Cengage Company, 2010. World Scholar: Latin America & the Caribbean, https://worldscholargalecom.lehman.ezproxy.cuny.edu/region/latinamerica/ImagesDetailsPage/ImagesDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Images&currPage=1&query=KE+slavery&prodId=LAC&source=fullList&p=LACP&mode=view&catId=&view=docDisplay&total=14&u=lehman_main&limiter=TY_PH+%22Photograph%22&contentModules=&displayGroups=Images&action=e&documentId=GALE%7CAAA000010024&sortBy=relevance%2Cdescending&windowstate=normal.