16 March 2020

Phyliss Wheatley and Christianity during Slavery

In her poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” Phyliss Wheatley uses Christian imagery and philosophy to speak of her salvation and ultimately to illuminate the sin of dehumanizing the black race. Initially, I took the poem’s tone to be sarcastic, though I have not found any sources that analyze it from that perspective. However, I cannot help but cringe at the lines “Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land, / Taught my benighted soul to understand / That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too.” Was it really a mercy to be kidnapped and sold into slavery? I suppose from a Christian perspective, the exchange of relative peace and physical freedom in Africa for the horrors of slavery in the new world is more than justified by the salvation of one’s eternal soul, however, to me the hypocrisy is what is most readily apparent.

Throughout all the readings thus far, there is the thread of Christianity that runs through the tales of colonization, brutalization and slavery. There is talk of God’s mercy and the virtues of Christian morality from both slave owners and slaves. Slave owners use Christianity both as the foundation of British “civilization” and as some kind of gift given to the people they kidnapped and enslaved. The sadder part may be that some of the slaves themselves believed this.

An example of this thinking can be seen in an excerpt of a slave narrative titled, Uncle Tom’s Story of His Life: An Autobiography of the Rev. Josiah Henson. In the excerpt, Henson tales of his father defending his mother from being raped by an overseer and being publicly whipped for hitting a white man. Later, Henson’s family is sold at auction, and his mother begs the man who bought her to buy her child as well so they wouldn’t be separated. The man not only refuses, but violently beats her until she is forced to escape him. Henson writes, “As she crawled away from the brutal man I heard her sob out, “Oh, Lord Jesus, how long, how long shall I suffer this way!”  (Henson). Here we see the dissonance between Christianity in theory and in practice. Both parties here are presumably Christian, yet the white man has no compunction about buying and beating human beings, despite Christ proclaiming in Matthew 25:40, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did to me.” Similarly, there is present in the woman being beaten and separated from her child the warped belief that her suffering and dehumanization is somehow God’s will.

In a second narrative, an excerpt from Slave Cabin to the Pulpit, by Peter Randolph, he illustrates the two types of Christianity present on the plantation where he was enslaved.  He relates how the prevailing thought among white people was that, by capturing and enslaving Africans they were saving their souls, and “were it not for slavery, they would die in their sins- – that really, the institution of slavery is a benevolent missionary enterprise” (Randolph). He writes that the version of Christianity taught to slaves mostly consisted of sermons on subjects such as being obedient to your masters, and not lying or stealing, because these things show the slave’s “base ingratitude to your kind masters, who feed, clothe and protect you” (Randolph).

The fact that the entire foundation of the slave trade rested on robbery, both in the literal stealing of humans to place them in bondage, and the theft of the profit derived from their unpaid labor is not lost on Randolph, who invokes the names of Ananias and Sapphira, two early followers of Christ who sold their land to donate to the poor, but kept a portion of the earnings for themselves. Peter, the apostle, tells them they have lied to God, and they are struck dead on the spot.  Randolph writes of the white preachers:

I should think, when making such statements, the slaveholders would feel the rebuke of the Apostle and fall down and be carried out from the face of day, as were Ananias and Sapphira, when they betrayed the trust committed to them, or refused to bear true testimony in regard to that trust. (Randolph)

In contrast, the slaves would meet at night—secretly because if they were caught worshipping on their own, they would be whipped—where they would greet each other in brotherhood and each take turns preaching and singing. Randolph writes:

The slave forgets all his sufferings, except to remind others of the trials during the past week, exclaiming: “Thank God, I shall not live here always!” Then they pass from one to another, shaking hands, and bidding each other farewell, promising, should they meet no more on earth, to strive and meet in heaven, where all is joy, happiness and liberty. As they separate, they sing a parting hymn of praise. (Randolph)

However, even this temporary respite from the horrors of their lives was forbidden, and Randolph writes that in some places any slaves that were caught praying—even individually—would be whipped, and any slave that called out to God while being whipped was threatened with death.

I find it intriguing that both of the authors cited above became Christian preachers themselves after they were freed. While I could never see myself believing in a God that would allow the holocaust of the slave trade to exist, I am not so jaded by organized religion to be unable to perhaps admire the faith of Wheatley, and the cited authors, and the hope that that faith gave them that their suffering, however immense, was temporary.  

Works Cited

Henson, Josiah. “‘THE OVERSEER…SENT MY MOTHER AWAY…TO A RETIRED SPOT.’” Excerpts from Slave Narratives – Chapter 20, Jon K. Mřller, www.vgskole.net/prosjekt/slavrute/20.htm.

Randolph, Peter. “‘THE SLAVE ASSEMBLE IN THE SWAMPS.’” Excerpts from Slave Narratives – Chapter 24 Jon K. Mřller, www.vgskole.net/prosjekt/slavrute/24.htm.

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Alexandra Risko
Professor Rumore,
ENG 302

Final Essay

Similar to the coronavirus in terms of casualties, the last time England saw the bubonic plague was in 1665, in an effort to recover financially, they procured many different real estate ventures (conquests) and business deals (taxes and trades). Great Britain became a powerhouse on the eastern hemisphere, and aimed to control all of the western hemisphere as well. A colonial dynasty, Britain would create the East India Trading Company, The Thirteen Colonies, and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Just to name a few. Three novels of that time period that depict these concepts are Oronooko by Aphra Behn, The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, and Captain Singleton by Daniel Defoe. Each of these novels illustrates the realism of the time period and captures a look at English colonialism.
 Slavery became big in the 1700s with the creation of the transatlantic slave trade through the middle passage. Crowded ships with hundreds of enslaved people left port at their own government’s monopolies. These ships would be aimed toward North and Central America. In the case of Oroonoko; Aphra Behn sets the colonized landing at a small country near Brazil, named Surinam. The British began a process where instead of enslaving the natives of the colonies, they would bring the African slaves to the colonies instead. Once a highly regarded and intelligent prince, Oronooko finds himself tricked into becoming a slave and ushered out of the ship in shackles to a whole new colonized world.
Written in 1688, Behn set out to model an opinion within her novel. As an abolitionist, she writes the ending where Oroonoko kills his wife and himself to escape slavery, as a symbol that the idea of death is better than the idea of being a slave for the rest of your life. With death, she illustrates, there is escape. Oroonoko escapes slavery in the end by dying. There are several other areas of the novel where she illustrates points the traditional upper class white man as the reader would not understand, such as when Oroonoko is tricked onto the boat. This illustrates the unfairness and legal/moral issues with owning other people; owning slaves. She also illustrates the horrid conditions of the quarters and then the horrid treatment of the slaves at the time. However, because she may have not been able to get over her own white privilege to see it, she was unable to truly mix Oroonoko within the other slaves. She had to make him a prince perhaps illustrating that even that status doesn’t mean a lot in those days when you’re black. Behn writes as if she wants the story to pretend it is fiction, so acts as if it happens in real life however is a made up story. Therefore this makes the action seem more horrible to read because the reader is made to think the story happened in real life, which it actually did in some instances like the examples of slavery but in this case it was trying to be more impactful upon the audience who does not have sympathy already for the slaves. At the end of the line however, Behn does not fully reject slavery or imperialism and she doesn’t have any major points against colonialism. Simply that slavery is horrid, and should be abolished is seen as her final message.
Years later, in 1720, another novel was published illustrating colonialism. Captain Singleton by Daniel Defoe was 300 pages of reflective mercantilism. Here Defoe illustrates the East India Trading Company and the blurred lines between “legit commerce” of British agents and “piracy” which was occurring in the era of pirates. This emphasis of corrupt money is illustrated throughout the novel. Britain had just colonized India,  and had many other colonies around the Indian Ocean as well. Captain Singleton was a character who worked on one of these “legit commerce” ships. Many times he and the crew loot other boats and take what they need in the name of the British empire. This idea that British power and status is based on theft in both the way illustrated by Captain Singleton and his crew but also by stealing others land, resources, and exports they have become the empire they are today. Overall it is not a lengthy detailed message about British piracy. There are small instances illustrating that Britain did not always have control over trade between India and the Arab nations. There is evidence of Indian, Arabian, Turkish, and Chinese trade within the storyline where Singleton is meeting the other boat passing by. This illustrates also that history was also controlled by the British and its not truly known what happened because only the victories are told by the victors. 
Lastly to sum up the era of colonialism for England, Olaudah Equiano wrote in 1789, the Interesting Narrative of Equiano. Wherein, he seemingly narrates earlier life for himself with his life on the slave ship from Ebo, Nigeria in the terrifying middle passage. In some ways he portrays stockholm syndrome by connecting with his captors on the slave ship, however it becomes a truly terrible experience. He hangs on to religion and uses religion to illustrate slavery. After the slavery era of his life, which the contradiction is illustrated in the novel. British soil outlawed slavery but because it was a staple within the colonies it was allowed for another 4o years. Overall the story was used as a truthful autobiography to instill fear of slavery.
The coronavirus has been pretty devastating to the United States economy, however; the stock market which seemingly crashed at the end of March, has been on the rise the last couple weeks. Historians are eager to make connections between this virus and that of the bubonic plague in the 1600s which allowed England to expand into a colonial dynasty with control over the thirteen colonies, east India trading company, and the transatlantic slave trade. Three novels; Oroonoko, Captain Singleton, and Equiano all focusing on these topics were in publishing circulation during the time period setting goals and social. 

The first archival object is the records database of all New York slaves by name. A project that is updated frequently, displays names, county, slave identification number, and year they died. There were many who only had one name or other information was unknown. What is surprising was the amount of names in the database; a little over five thousand. The first name I clicked to show in this screenshot was only number 198, and we were still in the A’s. In 1800 the US census told us that in entirety New York had 589k citizens (meaning white wealthy slave owners) and while we assume many didn’t have any slaves by the time the union was formed and the idea of slavery being abolished was on the forefront of everyone’s mind. Of the 5.1 million people in the United States in 1800, 845k of them were slaves. It is still such a horrific concept that all these people, all these names were enslaved peoples. This connects to Phyllis Wheatley because she was taken from her home in West Africa and brought to New England when she was very small. She probably was sold off at auction the moment she got into port, because children go faster and are valued more. She was sold a little before slavery was considered taboo in the north. In fact she probably went through the middle passage as well, however upon her return to America from England where she had accompanied her owner, she found that she was a free slave.

Similar to Ooronoko’s terrible journey in the boat from his native land; slaves also had to endure the middle passage. The middle passage is illustrated in the second archival object, a chart of one of the slave ships that went through the middle passage. The middle passage was the route all “cargo” slave ships passed through. These ships were filled to the brim with slaves, some who have passed away from conditions, or will soon. Scurvy was rampant and the chains would not come off for any reason. Horrific is a common word to describe this ship. Oroonoko’s ship would be considered a transatlantic slave trade even though the ship never docks in North American soil, the boat still goes through the middle passage. Behn writes, “having put ’em, some in one, and some in other lots, with women and children (which they call pickaninnies) they sold ’em off, as slaves, to several merchants and gentlemen; not putting any two in one lot, because they would separate ’em far from each other; nor daring to trust ’em together, lest rage and courage should put ’em upon contriving some great action, to the ruin of the colony.” this is what happens when they dock on land after having come from the middle passage. This particular slave ship was named the Vigilante, which had been intercepted in 1822 in its last voyage carrying 345 slaves from West Africa. Packed to the brim. This illustration was used historically to show the cramped conditions, what the shackles looked like, how the slaves were to lay on their backs, stacked up like potato sacks to be able to fit everyone in the boat.

Earlier in the semester I wrote a reflection upon the similarities between Oroonoko and New York City today. I had written some false information, that I believed there were little to no slaves in New York City because it was part of the north union. I had mistakenly believed there were not many slaves at all when in reality some five thousand slaves at least came through the port.

Critical Annotations
Alexandra Risko
Professor Rumore

1) An Hymn to Humanity
Phyllis Wheatley

“My son, my heav’nly fair!

                 III.

  “Descend to earth, there place thy throne;
  “To succour man’s afflicted son
      “Each human heart inspire:
  “To act in bounties unconfin’d
  “Enlarge the close contracted mind,
      “And fill it with thy fire.”

*Living in the late 1700s, Phyllis Wheatley was a slave in Boston, captured from her home in West Africa. During this period a different type of warfare was raging alongside the American Revolution. That is; the white man’s weapon: the bible. The act of colonizing/civilizing the savages and negroes through the introduction of christianity and the rejection of their home pagan beliefs. This method of assimilation led to loss of whole cultures and languages. Colonizing these people quite prevalent with the amount of religious imagery she uses within her poetry. Phyllis learned and educated herself with her masters at however great a cost to her own home and culture. In this passage she is alluding to the savior jesus christ.

2) To His Excellency George Washington

“The Goddess comes, she moves divinely fair,

Olive and laurel binds Her golden hair:
Wherever shines this native of the skies,”

Who is the goddess? I have looked it up but there is no greek goddess that has this crown. Next closest is Apollo who is the god of truth, light, and poetry (ironically). So perhaps SHE is the goddess. This could make sense as a crown is sometimes meant to relate to higher education. What is the historical context?- Laurel means peace and harmony, virtuousness. An olive branch typically means getting a new start. so in the context of she uses these two as a “you need to live up to these standards” towards Washington. She is essentially holding him accountable.

3) On Being Brought from Africa to America

*Benighted*

- to be pitiful, intellectually or morally ignorant.

In other words she is illustrating that she is a grateful humble servant to have been brought to America. This opportunity in her eyes taught her pitiful, pagan, African soul to be open to christianity and god, learning to assimilate within American culture and through this idea “negroes are civilized”

4) “For thee, Britannia, I resign
      New-England’s smiling fields;
  To view again her charms divine,
      What joy the prospect yields!”
-A Farewell to America

She’s saying that she is leaving New England for Britain and she misses NE and it brings her joy to be able to view it again. Also, within this poem she will be coming back a free slave at the time. As someone who is from New England I do definitely miss it, (specifically with coronavirus among us) there’s something about New England that just makes it hard to leave. 

5)
“Quick as the word, with swift career
  He wings his course from star to star,
      And leaves the bright abode.” -An Hymn To Humanity

This almost has a “Lucifer” vibe to it. He was part of the 9, and was cast away because of his jealousy of the humans. He had wings, whereas God does not. Lucifer is known as the morning star- “the bringer of light”. The bright abode being heaven that he has left/been cast away from.

’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.

Leah Johnney

ENG 302

Period Recap

During this semester there were several works that were introduced in ENG 302. Within each text there were specific themes that aligned with other works as well. Three works that covered similar themes were The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano, Oroonooko; or, The Royal Slave by Aphra Behn and the Phyllis Wheatley poems, specifically, On Being Brought From Africa To America. Themes such as Transatlantic enslavement, Formations of class, race, and gender can be seen in all three works. Each story falls into a different period which makes it interesting to connect.

In The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, written in 1789, illustrates the main character Equiano narrative of his life as slave. Historically content regarding the transatlantic statement is seen through his journey. The beginning opens with some background information of Equiano and his country. There is also a dive into class where Equiano mentions his father as “one of those elders or chiefs”. When it came to class, no matter who you were if there was a punishable act one was “condemned to make recompense by a man or woman slave.” (Equiano, Olaudah) As the story is being narrated, Equiano states, “I have often seen slaves, particularly those who were meagre, in different islands, put into scales and weighed; and then sold from three pence to six pence or nine pence a pound.” (Equiano, Olaudah) The things he saw around him played a huge roll in the historical context of the story.  As a black man who was a slave in this time, the treatment he faced, forced to fight for his freedom can even be connected to our time, which is unfortunate. It allows the reader to analyze how history can be rewritten with similar context. One should not have to fight for their freedom but like in today’s America just like Equiano it may feel as though races have to work hard to buy their own freedom. In the end it does not necessarily work out the way they want it. It is interesting to connect the reading to relative issues in our time, if possible.  

Even though Oroonooko was written before the story of Equiano, in 1688, they both have very similar ideas when it comes themes of enslavement, race, class, and gender. While The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is straight from the source, Oroonooko is written through the eyes of a white woman. This adds to the story shining light on themes of race class and gender, with race being the number one factor. As in Equiano, the definition of a person’s class did not separate them from there punishment or much at all. Oroonoko came from a family of power and still ended up being a slave. Even the woman that he loved was sent off to become a slave. After trying to escape, Oroonoko knew his wife; Imoinda, would receive punishment just as he would if they got caught. The narrator states, “he left his lovely Imoinda a prey, or at best a slave to the enraged multitude; his great heart could not endure that thought. “Perhaps,” said he, “she may be first ravaged by every brute; exposed first to their nasty lusts, and then a shameful death.” (Behn, Aphra) As graphic as Oroonooko is, it allows the reader to fully visualize what it may have been like during that time. Acts of punishment where brutal on both sides, while being different at the same time. It is important to remember throughout the story who the narrator is. It is giving an insight into a world from a specific lens and a reader should always be mindful of that.

In the Phyllis Wheatley poem, On Being Brought From Africa To America, there is much content for such a short poem. There are terms within the poem that should be reviewed in order to accurately dissect this poem. From the first line, “Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land”, the reader can assume there are references to the slave trade. (Wheatley, Phyllis) The author, like the previous authors, is telling a story of the experience as a slave. Wheatley’s use of language can be further analyzed after having a complete understanding of certain words she prefers to use. One word that stands out is “sable”. The author chooses this word over simply saying black which leaves and emphasis to the race factor.  The author also references race as she states, “Their colour is a diabolic die.” Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,” (Wheatley, Phyllis) This is a strong reference that she uses, as she also refers to the Bible as a form of understanding race. It also combines classes of religion and race together and connects it all to one. Like the other words, it all boils done to one common connection. There is such a powerful structure within Phyllis Wheatley poems that such be read more in classes like these.

All three works are significant in their own way. They talk about issues that many students today should understand. It is unfortunate that many students may have never even heard of these words until now in college and it is great to study. When it comes to vocabulary, it is a good idea to dedicate some time to review what certain things mean. It is easy to read something and not fully understand a word and bypass it. Without the critical annotation assignment there would have been small words that would have been passed. Those words, which one may not realize, plays a huge role in understanding the text. Overall, the content, while being a part of different time periods, surprisingly has similar ideas. An emphasis on the time, like a timeline would open the mind of an individual in an interesting way. To visually see where these stories where placed, can help the reader understand why it was written in the way it was. I am happy I got the opportunity to study these texts that I never knew about and I wish we had gone over more, but there is only so much one can do in a semester.

Works Cited

Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko. Canning, 1688.

Equiano, Olaudah, and Vincent Carretta. The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings. Point Par

Point, 2007.

Wheatley, Phyllis. On Being Brought From Africa To America. 1773.

This course covers works published in the years between 1660 to 1815, directly under the banner of British literature. Assuming you were born on a different planet, this extended 18^th century period is a big deal because it changed what would be the modern world forever.

During this time many major world events occurred. This is the period of modern history where things get a little funky. The strongest of the white nations collectively figured that the fight to be the most “powerful” of them all constitutes of the division and distribution of all the colored, conquered main lands.

A couple novels, and stories will be highlighted that help the reader gain a little more insight into the time period. Appropriately titled Restoration through Revolution. Starting at the beginning of the era, Aphra Behn’s Oronooko was published in 1688. This short prose, written by a white, British woman, utters the fictional story of an African prince who is tricked and sold into slavery by British Colonists in Surinam. Oddly enough, the story is written as a first person account. The importance of this story not only lies within its words but also within the fact that the author had done something new of the time. Not only writing in the voice of the subaltern but also being one of the first white female British authors.

There was the published autobiography of The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano in 1789. Unlike the previous novel, this one was an account of one’s time in the slave trade as a slave. This novel shares an almost emotional sympathy towards the colonizer figure. Like Oronooko the narrative shows the slaves with relationships that lends towards more than just other enslaved or Negro occupants. They show a connection to the whites or captors with adoption of their ideologies in many different ways.

These are the few the few “black” voices covered during this time period. Many and most texts are centered on the situations of the subaltern but not necessarily ever voiced from the happenings of the colonized themselves. There are many pieces of literature from this time period. The diversity lies mainly in the language, French, English, and Spaniard Spanish. It wont show much a difference in color of the writer but there will be cultural difference.

Behn, Aphra. Canning, 1688.

Equiano, Olaudah, and Vincent Carretta. Point Par Point, 2008.

As I come to the end this course there are themes that are illuminated in many of the works assigned to us.  Equiano and Oroonoko allows the reader to explore the horrors of slavery and their complicated relationship with the institution . Phyllis Wheatly and Equiano challenged the very deals of colonizers being seen as “savior” and using religion as a tool of oppression. They both appealed to the humanity that is supposed to be in us all. Another theme was that of Anti-colonization vs colonization which was explored in the work of Aphra Behn and Equiano. In Aphra Behn’s telling of an Africans story she comes across as bias. She is seeing the world of Oroonoko through the lends of a white female write; which can be problematic. It is unclear which parts of her book are fabricated and which parts are the truth. Lastly a theme that ran the material about the Transatlantic slave trade were the theme of freedom and whether or not it was a commodity that could be bought or sold.

Africans had a very complicated relationship with slavery and the masters who owned them.  I cannot say that there wasn’t some form of love between slave and masters. Some slaves stayed with the same families for generations and were treated like “family”. Equiano built seemingly successful relationships with his masters and thought he could use it as leverage. He seemed to be under the assumption that if he was good, took in all the culture that was bestowed on him by “amiable” white people somehow, he would be seen as an equal. Equiano was unaware of the inner workings behind the very profitable slavery. NO matter how “good” the relationship was between master and a slave, at the end of the day you were still seen in the eyes of the law as his “property”.  Michael Henry Pascal, a lieutenant in the British royal navy and captain of a merchant ship, even purchases Equiano  as “a present to some of his friends in England” (Equiano 94).  Equiano faithfully serves Pascal for several years and, believing that Pascal’s kindness implies a promise to free him, he is shocked at an abrupt betrayal during a layover in England. Pascal sells Equiano to Captain James Doran, the captain of a ship bound for the West Indies. Dazed by his sudden change in fortunes, Equiano argues with Captain Doran that Pascal “could not sell me to him, nor to anyone else . . . I have served him . . . many years, and he has taken all my wages and prizemoney . . . I have been baptized; and by the laws of the land no man has a right to sell me” (Equiano 177).

I personally saw this idea of the “white savior” come to the forefront of many of the readings.  This idea that Africans needed to be saved and rescued from their barbaric lives and taught how to think and speak. The notion that Western culture is far superior in standards and values, is enforced by the colonizers on the slaves. For example, the story has the narrator reading out to Oroonoko and Imoinda, the stories of the lives of Romans and nuns, as also the riddles of the trinity. Aphra Behn is cleaning putting her thoughts and feelings of Christianity being a religion African’s looked to and admired even though they had their own religious beliefs and values.  Aphra ben is speaking from the point of view of admiration for the Africans but also a sense of pity at their lives.  Christianity was weaponized as both a comfort and a source of oppression for them. Masters used Christianity as a tool that kept slaves obedient and docile. Equiano’s master even used God as the “punisher” and would tell him of the consequences’ he would suffer if he tried to tell lies or deceive him. “God would not love me” was something that allowed masters to dangle freedom in front of them to get slaves to completely submit.  Phyllis Wheatly also appeals to her readers that their race saved them from their “Pagan land” (Wheatly) and immersed them in Christianity and now they are just as worthy of favor in Gods eyes. African “May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train” (Wheatly). In this line Phyllis Wheatly appeals to white Europeans by making them realize that Africans were just as worthy of God’s love as they and they rightfully deserved his blessings.

In class we discussed the idea of freedom being something that can be bought and sold.  Front the master’s point of view it can be.  Once you were sold into slavery your freedom, as it were, is taken away, for a prophet.  Many slaves, including Equiano, worked his whole life trusting and believing in this concept. Through the actions of those around him, and things they told him he thought that if he worked hard enough, did everything he was told, and appeased whites, that he could buy his freedom. As we know there is nothing about freedom that can be bought or sold, it is humans that put a price tag on it. There was a constant battle within himself because he knew deep down that he could never truly be free. Equiano knew of freed blacks that and ended up being captured and sold back into bondage. The idea of “freedom” as a commodity only worked one way and with only one race of people suffering the consequences. Not only did Equiano think he could purchase freedom, but he felt he was no different than his white counterparts when he heard of “talk of peace e” (Equiano 49).  When he returned to English it is said that he “expects his freedom” (Equiano 49). Although he saw first-hand how white people treated slaves, especially on his early experiences on a ship, he still knew that freedom was something that every human automatically had from birth. Oroonoko had similar experiences in thinking his freedom was a tangible entitle.  He was betrayed by Deputy Governor Byam, who promised him his freedom only to dish out a cruel punishment instead.  Through the actions of the Transatlantic slave trade Africans had to deal with the contradiction set. Up by white Europeans. Africans knew that at any point they could be sold to the highest bidder, and they represented freedom.

Works Cited

Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko. Canning, 1688.

Equiano, Olaudah, and Vincent Carretta. The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings. Point Par Point, 2007.

Wheatley, Phyllis. A Farewell to America. To Mrs. S.W. 1773.

20 May 2020

Period Recap

Eng 302 was a survey course covering the “long” 18^th century spanning the years 1660 to 1815. Three important themes that run through this period are British Colonialism, the Transatlantic slave trade, and the emergence of gothic literature. In a way, all these themes are inextricably linked. In three novels of the period,  Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko, Daniel Dafoe’s Captain Singleton, and Olaudah Equiano’s, The Interesting Narrative, the reader is presented a world where the selling of slaves is not only commonplace, but it is made obvious that the labor provided by slaves provides the essential foundation on which British colonialism is based.

In Oroonoko, Behn explains rather matter-of-factly how slaves are acquired:

Those who want slaves make a bargain with a master or a captain of a ship, and contract to pay him so much apiece, a matter of twenty pound a head, for as many as he agrees for, and to pay for ’em when they shall be delivered on such a plantation: so that when there arrives a ship laden with slaves, they who have so contracted go aboard, and receive their number by lot; and perhaps in one lot that may be for ten, there may happen to be three or four men, the rest women and children. Or be there more or less of either sex, you are obliged to be contented with your lot (Behn).

During the long 18^th the British Empire grew exponentially with the colonization of India, the West Indies and the colonies in North America as well as Australia. Part of the study of English literature in this era involves how the authors explore British and colonist identity. That is, with the empire becoming so vast that at one point the sun never set upon it, the question of how colonists and slaves need to define themselves. In Behn’s narrative, Oroonoko reveals the complexity and nebulousness of this concept. He is described as better than the slave, even though he is a slave himself. This both helps and hinders him as he is alternately admired for being thought of as almost as good as a white man in one regard, while the same qualities of intelligence and charisma make him dangerous to the slave owners who fear he could instil a revolt among his fellow slaves.

The search for identity is also present in the gothic readings within the course. In Beckford’s Vathek, the themes of otherness are explored through Vathek’s renunciation of Islam, and through the name of the main antagonist, Giaour, whose names means non-muslim and is used mostly for Christians. This can be seen as a metaphor for both the assimilation and appropriation of colonized cultures by their colonizers, and the strict social boundaries between colonizer and colonist. Beckford’s novel in particular also illuminated another aspect of colonization in that the oriental—a metaphor for all things thought “exotic” by the western mind—is both feared and fetishized.

I found an interesting connection between Vathek and Coleridge’s poem Xanadu. In the novel, Beckford describes Vathek’s gaze. “When he was angry, one of his eyes became so terrible, that no person could bear to behold it; and the wretch upon whom it was fixed, instantly fell backward, and sometimes expired” (Beckford). Compare this to the end of the Coleridge poem, incidently also set in an oriental land.

And all who heard should see them there,

And all should cry, Beware! Beware!

His flashing eyes, his floating hair!

Weave a circle round him thrice,

And close your eyes with holy dread

For he on honey-dew hath fed,

And drunk the milk of Paradise  (Coleridge).