’Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,

  Taught my benighted soul to understand – Phyllis Wheatley Brought to America

This is a satirical statement brought on by what the speaker was told by the Slave Traders. The slave traders put emphasis on how their actions saved the speaker, from their pagan land. Pagan is a term used to describe people who are not following the world’s popular religion which at the time this poem was written, Christianity held that power. Benighted means to be pitifully ignorant morally or intellectually. Benighted in the second line has a powerful meaning behind it because it is showing the audience that the slavers taught her morally ignorant soul to understand why they needed to be rescued by them; which cycles back to the first line calling being taken as a mercy.

Pipe: Rifle 

19th-20th Century 

Accession Number: 1977.462.1

Above is one of three pieces related to transatlantic slave trade but this pipe rifle was a symbol of wealth and royalty. It signified the violence that the enslaved saw and slave traders dished out, it is a pipe rifle that was made out of bronze. It is smaller than a real pipe rifle but it is very detailed, and models a real rifle almost perfectly. According to the metropolitan museum of art Chokwe chiefs had begun trading with Europeans almost exclusively for weapons in exchange for the people they captured during raids on neighboring villages.  This rifle connects to  the story of Oronoko, who was a prince in his own tribe before he was taken from his homeland. Oronoko saw his people killed for this war over getting more slaves; his own general died from an arrow to the face. War, enslavement, and death were huge parts of the Transatlantic slave trade and Oronoko was caught up in it. 

He in turn tried to help his people, he tried to rally those that were enslaved by his side. Though he ultimately failed in the end he still tried to regain the freedom he had stolen from him. The Europeans could not convince him that this was how things should be, though he did not understand most of their customs he knew whatever nonsense they told him about what they were there for was not the truth. Another point I’d like to make is how this story was told from the imagination of a white woman, so we truly never hear from a true slave. We don’t have anything that really tells us what life felt like beyond that pipe. A pipe that models a violent weapon used by enslavers as a sign of status. That pipe more than likely was used for celebrations and leisure by these people, but it is a tangible object that sets the tone of this time period. 

My second Artifact is a call to action to Abolish Slavery pamphlet, that was written in London. This pamphlet mirrors what Equiano was talking about in his coming of age memoir. Equiano was a slave but he was taught how to read and write by his slave masters because they felt slavery was wrong. He wound up writing his memoir in such a manner that it did not get automatically destroyed by those in favor of slavery. Which is why this book is a very important part of transatlantic literature, because he got to “question” his enslavers and pose thought provoking ideas.  Like how the God they forced the slaves to learn about would not approve of slavery. Their actions do not match what they like to preach about God, and forgiveness. The pamphlet mirrors that by stating Equiano’s point exactly on page 7 of the pamphlet.  The pamphlet also gives examples of other nations that did away with slavery, like France had abolished slavery. The pamphlet also pointed out further that countries which are truly christian would get rid of slavery. Equiano could not speak as he would wish to but this pamphlet sums his point up perfectly. 

In conclusion there are physical remnants from this time period and we can see it in these objects. They have withstood the test of time and we can see the echos of a difficult past through these objects and the literature that was written at the time. Further exploration of artwork and artifacts during this time period needs to be explored to really bring to life the hardships that these people really faced.

Sources

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/slav/hd_slav.htm

Call to Action to Abolish Slavery 

Root, David. The abolition cause eventually triumphant : a sermon, delivered before the Anti-Slavery Society of Haverhill, Mass., Aug. 1836. Andover, 1836. 24pp.

Yesenia Leon 

May 18th, 2020

Professor Rumore 

ENG 302

Religion was something that was reflected upon a lot by the writers and poets focused on. They made sure each captured African gained from the transatlanic slave trade was made to convert to Chrisianity. Many poets framed their poems around this idea of enslavement and revolution, many things were going on at this time when it came down to the literary works of the 18th Century. This is an odd time in English literature but it is also one of the more fascinating periods to study, each work contained many different themes and literary devices. The theme religion played in many works was used as a tool to teach slaves the power god bestowed upon them, it was used as a way to signify unrest and anger. It was also used to prove that slavery is wrong.  Here we will analyze three works from this period and connect them to the theme of religion  that was prominent in the 18th Century.

The first work we will discuss is Phyllis Wheatley’s On being Brought from Africa to America which holds a lot of imagery and satirical writing styles. The opening line “‘Twas mercy that brought me from my pagan land” tells us that this person is a slave who was told that it was the mercy of God that led them to these english men. Mercy, redemption and forgiveness are common concepts that anyone would find in Christianity.  Another quote from the poem that supports this thinking is “Once I redemption neither fought nor knew, Some view our sable race with scornful eye,”, which is further going into more detail on how the slave is looked down upon for not having this belief in god, they never got a chance to fight or even knew that they should have fought. Redemption is something that was forced upon them, they must repent and redeem themselves in the eyes of the lord for their sinful practices. Lastly the slave provided some thought provoking imagery with the second to last line of this poem “Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,”, here is where the slave denounces their forced upon religion. What should be paid attention to is how he linked the idea that Christians which are the English men that stole them away from their homeland are all the negative things they call the slave. They are the evil Cain from the Cain and Abel story that is within the bible. This poem showed us how negatively religion was viewed amongst the slave population seeing as their captors didn’t practice what they preached. 

The next work we will focus on is William Wordworth’s  Lyrical ballads and selected poems within this poem the woman that is depectied is shown to be looked down upon. She too was enslaved because according to the poem “Meek, destitute, as seemed, of hope or aim” which was the common attitude slaves had. They were stolen and forced into this messy insane world of god, and masters. She was infear but she did not lose all of her fire because she then the poem discusses “Yet still her eyes retained their tropic fire,”which shows us how she still carries her homeland in her heart. The more chilling ending two lines can be told from the point of view that she fused both her religion and the religion of the slave master. Her prayers “To mock the Outcast.–O ye Heavens, be kind! And feel, thou Earth, for this afflicted Race!” tells the readers that she wishes them to be kind to  her enslavers because she knows that they should be punished for their deeds. She also asks them to feel the earth for them to understand how they treat this race that she now belongs to. 

Lastly we have Oroonoko, which tells the imaginged tale of what it was like to be a slave. The writer detailed being taken, how they found ways to be more useful and how they were used as the English man’s puppet. We see Oronoko change and evolve throughout his enslavement to these people, he truly becomes a different person almost. But he learned from the experience and got to travel around the world and see things no other person had seen. Though  he was no longer a king he was still learning great many things like one. He too was converted but he didn’t understand the religion too well to retain it. 

As you see the 18th Century went through many changes, and its poets had very meaningful ideas to spread. We see women writers and we see slaves being allowed to have a voice, even though it is through white people. The 18th Century connects a lot with the modern world as long as you look close enough.

The tale of Equiano is about a slave who shows whites how slavery is wrong through the education that he obtained through helping his oppressors which led to him writing his own memoir that detailed his life as a slave from when he was picked up, to his name changes, to his use of religion to drive his point across. In the memoir he sounds almost grateful for what happened to him. He was moved to a civilized nation and he found god he even got himself a new name. He appears within the memoir to have assimilated well but don’t let his use of words fool you, he is resisting in a way that kept him safe. His oppressors were very much against slavery but they contradicted their own beliefs by owning slaves. Though they did teach him how to read and write and do simple math they still were slave owners. Equiano’s memoir was the most hard hitting when it talked about how he was taught Christianity, he valued the teachings he was given.  He flipped the script and said slavery is not the Christian thing to do, he gave examples as to why this was and ended his memoir which should be considered as mic drop of epic 18th century proportions. 

This connects to today’s society and what it is like to be a New Yorker. There are many inequalities that are a recurring theme in the black community like education inequality and job inequalities.We find small ways to resist oppression through satire and social media, we narrate our own lives and connect through blog postings and status updates on our social media. Through sheer luck some of us wind up truly educated and successful like Equiano was, though not all of us speak up against the injustices the ones that do scream from the rooftops which is progress  unlike Equiano who was forced to pacify his oppressors through his writing. We find ourselves stuck in a constant battle between the people and the system. having to fight over hiring rights due to our names being different or our hair that at times defies gravity, or even our speech patterns. We have to completely hide our truest selves behind a mask, that hides the anger at our treatment. In today’s society we resist by choosing where we place our money and affect our oppressors where it truly hurts them, their wallets. Religion has taken a backseat in our modern society, money, and power are how we get our oppressors to listen to us. But we are sly creatures. The New Yorker has this thing called a hustle, our hustle allows us to smile in the faces of our oppressors and gain the power needed to truly eliminate them. We are Equiano in a way, we are all wolves in sheep’s clothing biding our time before we strike. So that we can finally finish the fight against oppression from our new oppressors  which are the people we “placed” into power. Our memoirs are our hashtags, it is the status update that you see on your phone, it is in our history, it is in our blood to fight against injustice.