Fluent Essays

DirectionsBefore you begin, please read the handout A Brief Guide to Analyzing and Writing About Primary Sources. Then read these two Primary Source readings:Olaudah Equiano ExcerptThomas Phillips ExcerptAfter reading the primary sources, pick a topic related to Europeans and Africans in the Transatlantic Slave Trade that you would like to analyze in your essay. Potential topics include:African perceptions of European slave traders or the slave trade.European perceptions of Africans slaves or African traders.The role of violence in the slave trade.African resistance to the slave trade.The relationship and negotiations between European and African traders.You can also develop your own topic based on your own interests. Email your instructor your potential topic and they can help you refine it as needed. You must develop a topic based on your reading of both primary sources and you must analyze evidence from both sources in your paper.Your essay should be at least three pages in length. Please use 12-point font and double-spacing. Your essay must have a works cited page and follow MLA style.Organizing Your EssayHere is a general guide for organizing your essay.Introduction: Introduce the topic your essay will address. Next, establish your essay’s main argument or thesis statement.First Main Paragraph - Historical Context : Explain the historical context in which your primary sources originated.Second Main Paragraph: Support your thesis by analyzing your primary sources and providing specific supporting evidence.Third Main Paragraph: Support your thesis by analyzing your primary sources and providing specific supporting evidence. You can develop more supporting paragraphs as needed if you start new sub-topics.Conclusion: Tie together the points you made in your essay and reiterate your thesis. module_02_thomas_phillips_excerpt.pdf module_02_olaudahequiano_excerpt.pdf Unformatted Attachment Preview Excerpt from: Thomas Phillips, A Journal of a Voyage Made in the Hannibal of London, Ann. 1693, 1694 (published 1732). Source Introduction and Summary: In this document, Captain Thomas Phillips of the English slave ship, Hannibal, describes how he and his English crew interacted and negotiated with an African king, and his emissaries, in order to acquire slaves. Phillips also describes how English traders branded and shackled slaves in the early stages of the Middle Passage, and how Africans resisted their enslavement by mutiny and suicide. Phillips also provides a rare reflection on how Europeans and Africans perceived color difference and created emerging concepts of race and racism. Phillips, and his ship, were part of the Royal African Company, the English slave trading stockcompany which originated in 1660 after the restoration of the monarchy. The Royal African Company dominated the West African slave trade during the late seventeenth century. In 1693, Phillips and the Hannibal left England for present day Benin on the West African coast to acquire slaves. After filling his ship with 700 men and women, Phillips and the Hannibal sailed for Barbados in the eastern Caribbean where English sugar plantation owners required large amounts of slave labor. Only 372 of the slaves on the Hannibal survived the passage from West Africa to Barbados – an unusually high mortality rate. During the seventeenth century, the average mortality rate for any given slave ship making the passage from Africa to the Americans was about twenty percent. (Yazawa, Documents for America’s History, 59) (1) Excerpt: “As soon as the king understood of our landing, he sent two of his cappasheirs [Africans designated by coastal kings to supply European traders with slaves], or noblemen, to compliment us at our factory [slave trading fort on the coast], where we design’d to continue, that night, and pay our devoirs [respects] to his majesty next day, which we signify’d to them, and they, by a foot-express, to their monarch; whereupon he sent out two more of his grandees [noblemen] to invite us there that night, saying he waited for us, and that all former captains used to attend him the first night: whereupon being unwilling to infringe the custom, or give his majesty any offence, we took our hammocks, and Mr. Peirson, myself, Capt. Clay, our surgeons, pursers, and about 12 men, arm’d for our guard, were carry’d to the king’s town, which contains about 50 houses . . . (216) “We returned him thanks by his interpreter, and assur’d him how great affection our masters, the royal African company of England, bore to him, for his civility and fair and just dealings with their captains; and that notwithstanding there were many other Places, more plenty of negro slaves that begg’d their custom, yet they had rejected all the advantageous offers made them out of their good will to him, and therefore had sent us to trade with him, to supply his country with necessaries, and that we hop’d he would endeavor to continue their favour by his kind usage and fair dealing with us in our trade, that we would oblige his cappasheirs to do us justice, and not impose upon use in their prices; all which we should faithfully relate to our masters, the royal African company, when we came to England. He answer’d that the African company was a very good brave man; that he lov’d him; that we should be fairly dealt with, and not impos’d upon; But he did not prove as good as his word; nor indeed (tho’ his cappasheirs shew him so much respect) dare he do anything but what they please . . . so after having examin’d us about our cargoe, what sort of goods we had, and what quantity of slaves we wanted, etc., we took our leaves and return’d to the factory, having promised to come in the morning to make our palavera, or agreement, with him about prices, how much of each of our goods for a slave. (217) “According to promise we attended his majesty with samples of our goods, and made our agreement about the prices, tho’ not without much difficulty; he and his cappasheirs exacted very high, but at length we concluded as per the latter end; then we had warehouses, a kitchen, and lodgings assign’d us, but none of our rooms (217) had doors till we made them, and put on locks and keys; next day we paid our customs to the king and cappasheirs . . . then the bell was order’d to go about to give notice to all people to bring their slaves to the trunk [holding area for slaves to be sold] to sell us . . . This man carry’d about [the bell] and beat with a stick, which made a small dead sound . . . (218) “We were every morning, during our stay here, invited to breakfast with the king, where we always found the same dish of stew’d fowls and potatoes; he also would send us a hog, goat, sheep, or pot of pitto [a liquor made from corn] every day for our table, and we usually return’d his civility with three or four bottles of brandy, which is his fumum bonum [favorite]: We had our cook ashore, and eat as well as we could, provisions being plenty and cheap; but we soon lost our stomachs by sickness, most of my men having fevers, and myself such convulsions and aches in my head, that I could hardly stand or go to the trunk without assistance, and there often fainted with the horrid stink of the negroes, it being an old house where all the slaves are kept together, and evacuate nature where they life, so that no jakes can stink worse: there being forced to sit three or four hours at a time, quite ruin’d my health, but there was no help. (218) “Capt. Clay and I agreed to go to the trunk to buy the slaves by turns, each his day, that we might have no distraction or disagreement in our trade, as often happens when there are here more ships than one, and the commanders can’t set their horses together, and go hand in hand in their traffick, whereby they have a check upon the blacks, whereas their disagreements create animosities, underminings, and out-bidding each other, whereby they enhance the prices to their general loss and detriment, the blacks well knowing how to make the best use of such opportunities, and as we found make it their business, and endeavor to create and foment misunderstandings and jealousies between commanders, it turning to their great account in the disposal of their slaves. (218) “When we were at the trunk, the king’s slaves, if he had any, were the first offer’d to sale, which the cappasheirs would be very urgent with us to buy, and would in a manner force us to it ere they would shew us any other, saying they were the Reys Cosa [the king’s slaves], and we must not refuse them, tho’ as I observ’d they were generally the worst slaves in the trunk, and we paid more for them than any others, which we could not remedy, it being one of his majesty’s prerogatives; then the cappasheirs each brought out his slaves according to his degree and quality, the greatest first, &c. and our surgeon examin’d them well in all kinds, to see that they were sound wind and limb, making them jump, stretch out their arms swiftly, looking in their mouths to judge their age; for the cappasheirs are so cunning, that they shave them all close before we see them, so that let them never be so old we see no grey hairs in their heads or beards; and then having liquor’d them well and sleek with palm oil, ‘tis no easy matter to know an old one from a middle-age one, but by the teeths decay; but our greatest care of all is to buy none that are pox’d, lest they should infect the rest aboard; for tho’ we separate the men and women aboard by partitions and bulk-heads, to prevent quarrels and wranglings among them, yet do what we can they will come together, and that distemper which they call the yaws, is very common here, and discovers itself by almost the same symptoms as the . . . clap does with us; therefore our surgeon is forc’d to examine the privities of both men and women, with the nicest scrutiny . . . When we had selected from the rest such as we liked, we agreed in what goods to pay them, the prices being already state before the king, how much of each sort of merchandize we were to give for a man, woman, and child, which gave us much ease, and saved abundance of disputes and wranglings, and gave the owner a note, signifying our agreement of the sorts of goods; upon delivery of which the next day he receiv’d them; then we mark’d the slaves we had bought in the breast, or shoulder, with a hot iron, having the letter of the ship’s name on it, the place being before anointed with a little palm oil, which caus’d but little pain, the mark being usually well in four or five days, appearing very plain and white after. (218) “When we had purchas’d to the number of 50 or 60 we would send them aboard, there being a cappasheir, intitled the captain of the slaves, whose care it was to secure them to the water-side, and see them all off; and if in carrying to the marine any were lost, he was bound to make them good, to us, the captain of the trunk being oblig’d to do the like, if any run away while under his care, for after we buy them we give him charge of them till the captain of the slaves comes to carry them away: These are two officers appointed by the king for this purpose, to each of which every ship pays the value of a slave in what goods they like best for their trouble (218), when they have done trading; and indeed they discharg’d their duty to us very faithfully, we not having lost one slave thro’ their neglect in 1300 we bought here. (219) “There is likewise a captain of the sand, who is appointed to take care of the merchandize we have come ashore to trade with, that the negroes do not plunder them, we being often forced to leave goods a whole night on the sea shore, for want of porters to bring them up; but notwithstanding his care and authority, we often came by the loss, and could have no redress. “When our slaves were come to the seaside, our canoes were ready to carry them off to the longboat, if the sea permitted, and she convey’d them aboard ship, where the men were all put in irons, two and two shackled together, to prevent their mutiny, or swimming ashore. (219) “The negroes are so willful and loth to leave their own country, that they have often leap’d out of the canoes, boat and ship, into the sea, and kept under water till they were drowned, to avoid being taken up and saved by our boats, which pursued them; they having a more dreadful apprehension of Barbadoes [the island of Barbados in the eastern Caribbean] than we can have of hell, tho’ in reality they live much better there than in their own country; but home is home, &c: we have likewise seen divers of them eaten by the sharks, of which a prodigious number kept about the ships of this place, and I have been told will follow her hence to Barbadoes, for the dead negroes that are thrown over-board in the passage. I am certain in our voyage there we did not want the sight of some every day, but that they were the same I can’t affirm. (219) “We had about 12 negroes did willfully drown themselves, and others starv’d themselves to death; for ‘tis their belief that when they die they return home to their own country and friends again. (219) “I have been inform’d that some commanders have cut off the legs or arms of the most willful, to terrify the rest, for they believe if they lose a member, they cannot return home again: I was advis’d by some of my officers to do the same, but I could not be persuaded to entertain the least thoughts of it, much less to put in practice such barbarity and cruelty to poor creatures, who, excepting their want of Christianity and true religion, (their misfortune more than fault) are as much the works of God’s hands, and no doubt as dear to him as ourselves; nor can I imagine why they should be despis’d for their colour, being what they cannot help, and the effect of the climate it has pleas’d God to appoint them. I can’t think there is any instrinsick value in one colour more than another, nor that white is better than black, only we think it so because we are so, and are prone to judge favorably in our own case, as well as the blacks, who in odium of the colour, say, the devil is white, and so paint him.” (219) (7) Attributions (1) Content by Florida State College at Jacksonville is licensed under CC BY 4.0 (7) A Journal of a Voyage Made in the Hannibal of London by Thomas Phillips is in the Public Domain. Excerpt from: Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African. Written By Himself. Vol. I. (published 1789) CHAPTER II ~The authors birth and parentage--His being kidnapped with his sister--Their separation-Surprise at meeting again--Are finally separated--Account of the different places and incidents the author met with till his arrival on the coast--The effect the sight of a slave ship had on him-He sails for the West Indies--Horrors of a slave ship--Arrives at Barbadoes, where the cargo is sold and dispersed.~ I hope the reader will not think I have trespassed on his patience in introducing myself to him with some account of the manners and customs of my country. They had been implanted in me with great care, and made an impression on my mind, which time could not erase, and which all the adversity and variety of fortune I have since experienced served only to rivet and record; for, whether the love of ones country be real or imaginary, or a lesson of reason, or an instinct of nature, I still look back with pleasure on the first scenes of my life, though that pleasure has been for the most part mingled with sorrow. I have already acquainted the reader with the time and place of my birth. My father, besides many slaves, had a numerous family, of which seven lived to grow up, including myself and a sister, who was the only daughter. As I was the youngest of the sons, I became, of course, the greatest favourite with my mother, and was always with her; and she used to take particular pains to form my mind. I was trained up from my earliest years in the art of war; my daily exercise was shooting and throwing javelins; and my mother adorned me with emblems, after the manner of our greatest warriors. In this way I grew up till I was turned the age of eleven, when an end was put to my happiness in the following manner:--Generally when the grown people in the neighbourhood were gone far in the fields to labour, the children assembled together in some of the neighbours premises to play; and commonly some of us used to get up a tree to look out for any assailant, or kidnapper, that might come upon us; for they sometimes took those opportunities of our parents absence to attack and carry off as many as they could seize. One day, as I was watching at the top of a tree in our yard, I saw one of those people come into the yard of our next neighbour but one, to kidnap, there being many stout young people in it. Immediately on this I gave the alarm of the rogue, and he was surrounded by the stoutest of them, who entangled him with cords, so that he could not escape till some of the grown people came and secured him. But alas! ere long it was my fate to be thus attacked, and to be carried off, when none of the grown people were nigh. One day, when all our people were gone out to their works as usual, and only I and my dear sister were left to mind the house, two men and a woman got over our walls, and in a moment seized us both, and, without giving us time to cry out, or make resistance, they stopped our mouths, and ran off with us into the nearest wood. Here they tied our hands, and continued to carry us as far as they could, till night came on, when we reached a small house, where the robbers halted for refreshment, and spent the night. We were then unbound, but were unable to take any food; and, being quite overpowered by fatigue and grief, our only relief was some sleep, which allayed our\ misfortune for a short time. The next morning we left the house, and continued travelling all the day. For a long time we had kept the woods, but at last we came into a road which I believed I knew. I had now some hopes of being delivered; for we had advanced but a little way before I discovered some people at a distance, on which I began to cry out for their assistance: but my cries had no other effect than to make them tie me faster and stop my mouth, and then they put me into a large sack. They also stopped my sisters mouth, and tied her hands; and in this manner we proceeded till we were out of the sight of these people. When we went to rest the following night they offered us some victuals; but we refused it; and the only comfort we had was in being in one anothers arms all that night, and bathing each other with our tears. But alas! we were soon deprived of even the small comfort of weeping together. The next day proved a day of greater sorrow than I had yet experienced; for my sister and I were then separated, while we lay clasped in each others arms. It was in vain that we besought them not to part us; she was torn from me, and immediately carried away, while I was left in a state of distraction not to be described. I cried and grieved continually; and for several days I did not eat anything but what they forced into my mouth. At length, after many days travelling, during which I had often changed masters, I got into the hands of a chieftain, in a very pleasant country. This man had two wives and some children, and they all used me extremely well, and did all they could to comfort me; particularly the first wife, who was something like my mother. Although I was a great many days journey from my fathers house, yet these people spoke exactly the same language with us. This first master of mine, as I may call him, was a smith, and my principal employment was working his bellows, which were the same kind as I had seen in my vicinity. They were in some respects not unlike the stoves here in gentlemens kitchens; and were covered over with leather; and in the middle of that leather a stick was fixed, and a person stood up, and worked it, in the same manner as is done to pump water out of a cask with a hand pump. I believe it was gold he worked, for it was of a lovely bright yellow colour, and was worn by the women on their wrists and ancles. I was there I suppose about a month, and they at last used to trust me some little distance from the house. This liberty I used in embracing every opportunity to inquire the way to my own home: and I also sometimes, for the same purpose, went with the maidens, in the cool of the evenings, to bring pitchers of water from the springs for the use of the house. I had also remarked where the sun rose in the morning, and set in the evening, as I had travelled along; and I had observed that my fathers house was towards the rising of the sun. I therefore determined to seize the first opportunity of making my escape, and to shape my course for that quarter; for I was quite oppressed and weighed down by grief after my mother and friends; and my love of liberty, ever great, was strengthened by the mortifying circumstance of not daring to eat with the free-born children, although I was mostly their companion. While I was projecting my escape, one day an unlucky event happened, which quite disconcerted my plan, and put an end to my hopes. I used to be sometimes employed in assisting an elderly woman slave to cook and take care of the poultry; and one morning, while I was feeding some chickens, I happened to toss a small pebble at one of them, which hit it on the middle and directly killed it. The old slave, having soon after missed the chicken, inquired after it; and on my relating the accident (for I told her the truth, because my mother would never suffer me to tell a lie) she flew into a violent pa ... Purchase answer to see full attachment