Name: __________________________________________
Date:______________
Middle Passage
Olaudah Equiano, Enslaved African Man, 1756
Student Worksheet
Historical Context:
From the early days of the American colonies, forced labor and slavery grew to become a
central part of colonial economic and labor systems. Hard labor made tobacco, rice, and sugar
plantations profitable. Buying and enslaving the people who supplied this labor ultimately
became a lucrative and tragic part of the commerce in the maritime web that connected
Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
The Atlantic slave trade was the largest forced migration of people by sea in history. Firstperson accounts of the Middle Passage are very rare. Olaudah Equiano’s first-person account
recalls his terrifying journey as an 11-year-old captive aboard a slave ship from Africa to
Barbados in 1756.
Olaudah Equiano wrote an account of the Middle Passage in his 1789 autobiography. Recent
scholarship has called into question Equiano’s place of birth and whether his narrative is, in
fact, a firsthand account. Whether born in Africa or Carolina, many scholars agree that the
basic content of Equiano’s narrative is a significant document that rings true.
Instructions:
Answer the questions on the next page using the accompanying primary sources found at:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/oral_histories/life_at_sea/equiano.htm.
The questions are designed to help you practice working with historical documents . Some of
these documents have been edited, but all are authentic. As you analyze the documents , take
into account the source of each document and any point of view that may be presented in the
document.
Life at Sea: Middle Passage Page 1 of 2
Name: __________________________________________
Date:______________
Questions:
1. According to the words of Olaudah Equiano and referring to at least one supporting primary sources, state 3 conditions aboard the slave ship that would decrease his chances of surviving the journey.
2. Based on Olaudah Equiano’s account and one supporting primary source, cite evidence that indicates there were likely people from many African countries on this particular journey. You may use the written transcript to guide you.
Life at Sea: Middle Passage Page 2 of 2
Stories from Maritime America
The Middle Passage
Olaudah Equiano describes his sickness and terror as an 11-year-old captive aboard a
slave ship from Africa to Barbados in 1756.
From Olaudah Equiano, “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or
Gustavus Vassa, the African,” in Henry Louis Gates, ed., The Classic Slave Narratives
(New York: Mentor, 1987), pp. 32-37.
The first object that saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea, and
a slave ship…waiting for its cargo. These filled me with astonishment, that was soon
converted into terror…I was immediately handled and tossed up to see if I was sound, by
some of the crew; and I was now persuaded that I had got into a world of bad spirits, and
that they were going to kill me…
I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a salutation in my
nostrils as I had never experienced in my life: so that, with the loathsomeness of the
stench, and with my crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to
eat…I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two of
the white men offered me eatables; and on my refusing to eat, one of them held me…and
laid me across, I think, the windlass, and tied my feet, while the other flogged me
severely…In a little time after, amongst the poor chained men, I found some of my own
nation…I inquired of these what was to be done with us. They gave me to understand we
were to be carried to these white people’s country to work for them. I was then a little
revived…But still I feared that I should be put to death, the white people looked and
acted, as I thought, in so savage a manner: for I had never seen such instances of brutal
cruelty: and this is not only shown towards us blacks, but also to some of the whites
themselves…I could not help expressing my fearful apprehensions to some of my
countrymen…I asked them how the vessel could go. They told me they could not tell; but
that there was cloth put upon the masts by the help of the ropes I saw, and then the vessel
went on; and the white men had some spell or magic they put in the water, when they
liked, in order to stop the vessel…
While we stayed on the coast I was mostly on deck; and one day…I saw one of
these vessels coming in with the sails up…when the anchor was let go, I and my
countrymen who saw it, were lost in astonishment to observe the vessel stop, and were
now convinced it was done by magic…At last, when the ship…had got in all her
cargo,… we were all put under deck…
PRIMARYSOURCE#1:
Map of Africa, 1644
This map includes European names for parts of the West African coast where people were
captured and held for the slave trade.
ThismapdemonstratesthatAfricawasnotonelargecountrybutanentire
continentmadeupofdozensofnationsandhundredsoftribes.
PRIMARYSOURCE#2:Diagramofaslaveship.