Saturday, January 28, 2012

Equiano


                The location of Equiano’s birth and what it would mean to the validity of his narrative is hotly debated today.  Despite Carretta’s compelling evidence to the contrary I believe based on accounts in The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano  and the historical context of Equiano's lifetime, Equiano was indeed born in Africa prior to his capture and induction into the Atlantic slave trade. 
                Firstly, Equiano begins his Narrative by describing customs of the Igbo people of Africa.  He explains in Chapter I, “the natives of this part of Africa are extremely cleanly” when he is describing purification rituals among his countrymen.1  He later remarks several times at his surprise that these new non-African people do not wash their hands before they eat and that they touch dead bodies.2  An action like this would not stand out to someone born and raised in Western culture where purifying oneself after touching a corpse in not practiced.  Next, Equiano’s description of the Middle passage in Chapter II of Volume I account the atrocious environment African slaves endured during transport.  “I can now relate hardships which are inseparable from this accursed trade.”3 Equiano’s knowledge of the offenses during the middle passage and how they are indicative to the slave trade is compelling evidence that he was on that ship and can compare both experiences first hand. These accounts are detailed and surprisingly lacking in emotion from the writer.  It is an extremely clear recollection of events as they occurred written almost from a stunned point of view instead of from a sympathy driven angle.  Furthermore, Equiano’s major motivation behind the Narrative and it success was abolition of slavery.4 It is extremely doubtful that during that time when slave narratives were extremely popular and interest in the truth of the slave experience was high, that he would write anything that could be disproven.  No one came forward to counter his appeal to be a free man in 1767.5 Also, when discrediting letters were anonymously published in the London papers in 1792 during Equiano’s promotion of his book, no one would claim responsibility for the slander and a retraction was printed.6 Witnesses were produced at the time to verify Equiano’s claim of African birth and testified to his arrival in the country in 1762 speaking only in African tongue.7
                Vincent Carretta points to several discrepancies between the Narrative and historical documents.  Incorrectly identified ships and dates which Equaino traveled do exist, but mostly during his youth and prior to his adept grasp on the English language. The Industrious Bee, a merchant ship commanded by one of his owners, Captain Pascal, did exist and complete the voyage accounted by Equiano, but the actual time frame does not match up with Equiano’s story.8 The details not relating to the date in the Narrative during that time are accurate and it reasonable to believe that a young boy could make memory mistakes about ship names and dates.  Another of Carretta’s points includes documents stating Equaino was born in South Carolina.  His baptism registry in 1759 is one such document. Equiano’s desire to be baptized arose out of fear that “I could not go to Heaven unless I was baptized.”9  I believe that Equiano felt pressure to assimilate and giving an American birth place might make his African descent more palatable.  The pattern of minimizing African-ness and assimilating to Western cultures was well documented behavior for slaves and free people of African descent.10  As Dr. Barnes covered in his lectures, it was important how one "frames" themselves.  The idea that he could gain employment and better treatment by giving an American birth place explains why Equiano might have represented himself as American born during certain times in his life.  Understanding these actions in context does not prove he was American born; instead it gives even more credence to his African birth. 
    
1The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Written by Himself with Related Documents, ed. with an Introduction by Robert J Allison (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007),  52.
2Ibid,  63.
3Ibid,  68.
4Where Was Olaudah Equiano Born? (And Why Does It Matter?) http://www.brycchancarey.com/equiano/nativity.htm (accessed 1/25/2012.)
5The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Written by Himself with Related Documents, ed. with an Introduction by Robert J Allison (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007),  155.
6Ibid,  25.
7Ibid.
8The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Written by Himself with Related Documents, ed. with an Introduction by Robert J Allison (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007),  71.
9 Ibid,  84.
10From Creole to African: Atlantic Creoles and the Origin of African-American Society in Mainland North America.  Ira Berlin (Virginia: 1996), p.259.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Amy. I enjoyed reading your post; I especially enjoyed your final sentence about how Carretta’s arguments about Equiano providing South Carolina as his birthplace during his youth gives even more credence to his African birth when viewed in the context of Equiano’s times. You are right that African-born slaves were frowned upon during his lifetime. You make a convincing argument, backed with plenty of evidence from Equiano's "Narrative", about how Equiano was born in Africa because 1) he accurately described his Igbo traditions in Chapter I, such as not touching dead bodies, 2) he provided an “extremely clear recollection” of the middle passage in Chapter II , and 3) Equiano realized his antislavery efforts would be ruined if he was caught lying about his birthplace, as shown in his heated response to the anonymous letters published in the London papers in 1792.

    Although these points are strong, I think your first and second points could be challenged because as mentioned in Carey’s table, Equiano's descriptions of Africa and the middle passage closely resembled similar accounts made by European and American authors, such as Anthony Benezet.(1) If he was kidnapped at such a young age, how was he able to recount specific details about his Igbo tribe, such as not touching dead bodies? Some say this shows that he simply copied accounts such as Benezet’s. Also, mentioning that Equiano’s description of the middle passage was “detailed and surprisingly lacking in emotion” actually could work against your case because if he was young, wouldn’t the events be less detailed but more traumatizing and possess more emotion? However, overall, you present a strong argument.

    Footnotes:
    1) Where Was Olaudah Equiano Born? (And Why Does It Matter?) http://www.brycchancarey.com/equiano/nativity.htm (accessed 2/10/2012.)

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  2. Hi Amy,
    I would like to start by saying what a tight-knit argument you made.
    You state that Equiano was indeed born in Africa. You support this argument by discussing the cultural practice of washing, or lack thereof. You move on to his account of the middle passage. You argue Equiano would not have written anything that could be disproved because of the seriousness of the subject. In fact, Equiano successfully refuted slanderous claims that he lied. You also cited his ability to speak an African dialect as prove he was truthful.
    I agree with you, but for the sake of the argument I will challenge the account of the cultural practices in Africa. It is not unreasonable to suggest that he used other written sources in circulation at the time and other anecdotal information from slaves or former slaves to provide this information. In fact, Carey's chart and Equiano himself, tell us that he referenced other authors and "consulted them in order to help him." The "mythological" style of writing makes it difficult to trust his account as history.
    Thanks,
    Jaime

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  3. Your argument is really well stated. I completely agree with your observations. I especially think that the detail in which Equiano describes his childhood in Africa along with his always placing great importance on being an honest man really helps to back the argument that Equiano was indeed born in Africa.

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