Middle Passage:
Olaudah Equiano, Enslaved African Man, 1756
Lesson Guide
Objectives:
The students will be better able to:
•
Describe the experiences of an enslaved African man enduring the Middle Passage.
•
Obtain information from a variety of primary sources.
Time:
•
First Person Narrative: 4:00 minutes
•
Analysis Questions: 8 minutes
Grade Level: 6th-12th
Vocabulary:
The first person narratives contain several words that may be unfamiliar to 21st-century readers. Whenever
these words are used within narratives or primary sources, the Web page will include definitions for those
words. Good historians always have a dictionary nearby when doing research or writing, so students should as
well.
Here is the list specific to this activity:
•
loathsomeness – a characteristic engendering extreme disgust
•
Middle passage – the voyage of enslaved people across the Atlantic from Africa to the Americas; the middle leg of a three-part trade in slaves and goods between Europe, Africa, and the Americas
necessary tub – a vessel for urination and defecation
•
•
pestilential – (1)(a) causing or tending to cause pestilence (such as an infectious epidemic disease): deadly (1)(b) of or relating to pestilence (2) morally harmful : pernicious (3) giving rise to vexation or annoyance : irritating
salutation – an expression of greeting, goodwill, or courtesy by word, gesture, or ceremony
•
•
windlass – any of various machines for hoisting or hauling: as a horizontal barrel supported on vertical posts and turned by a crank so that the hoisting rope is wound around the barrel
Materials:
•
Computer with Internet access (with Flash plug-in & Adobe Reader)
– Life at Sea—1680 to 1806 Web site (http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/oral_histories/life_
at_sea/)
– Transcript of the audio clip (http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/pdf/transcript_equiano.pdf)
Life at Sea: Middle Passage Page 1 of 7
•
Student Worksheet PDF (print or digital) (http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/pdf/worksheet_
equiano.pdf)
Printer (recommended)
•
Preparation:
1. Visit the Olaudah Equiano page of Life at Sea—1680 to 1806 (http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/
oral_histories/life_at_sea/equiano.htm) to preview the content.
2. Download & print the transcript (http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/pdf/transcript_equiano.pdf) for the Olaudah Equiano recording. Consider making copies for students.
3. Print the student worksheet (http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/pdf/worksheet_equiano.pdf) to distribute to students.
Standards:
NCHS 5-12 United States History Standards
Era 2, Standard 1A: The student understands how diverse immigrants affected the formation of European colonies.
Era 2, Standard 3C: The student understands African life under slavery.
NCHS 5-12 World History Standards
Era 6, Standard 4B: The student understands the origins and consequences of the trans-Atlantic African slave trade.
Era 7, Standard 2C: The student understands the causes and consequences of the abolition of the trans-
Atlantic slave trade and slavery in the Americas.
NCHS 5-12 Standards in Historical Thinking
2B: Reconstruct the literal meaning of a historical passage
2C: Identify the central question(s)
2E: Read historical narratives imaginatively
4B: Obtain historical data from a variety of sources
4F: Support interpretations with historical evidence
Introduction:
In order to better understand events and people of the past, historians examine many different types of primary
sources. Government records, letters, photographs and artifacts are just a few examples of primary sources.
First-person narratives are a very valuable type of primary source since they are the words of people who
actually lived through the events they speak of. The audio recordings you will hear are dramatic readings of
first-person accounts written by real people of the time periods shown.
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.
Life at Sea: Middle Passage Page 2 of 7
The Atlantic slave trade was the largest forced migration of people by sea in history. First-person 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.
Task:
Use your listening skills to discover important information from the first-person narratives, then work with
several supporting primary sources to answer questions about the person and/or their experiences.
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.
Equiano’s account mentions the horrifying conditions below decks on the ship. He states
the heat and crowded conditions “almost suffocated us.” He also includes a graphic
description of overflowing chamber pots and children nearly drowning in them. Both
the shackles and the famous Brooks illustration showing how slaves could be arranged
for maxium profit are supporting primary sources.
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.
The map of Africa created in 1644 shows that Europeans were well aware of the many
different ethnic and tribal groups as well as territorial boundaries on the continent. The
illustrations that frame the map represent a variety of styles of dress found in Africa
at the time. Equiano’s narrative indicates it took him a while before he “… found some
of my own nation…” Ask your students to imagine the many languages being spoken
below decks and 11 year old Equiano’s difficulty in locating someone to talk to. You can
ask them to listen to these audio files to hear a variety of West African languages spoken
today.
Compare/Contrast:
Equiano’s narrative pairs well with The Price of Doing Business (Joseph Hawkins, American Officer on a Slave
Ship, 1795).
Supporting Primary Sources:
See pages 5 through 7 in this guide.
Life at Sea: Middle Passage Page 3 of 7
Additional Primary & Secondary Sources:
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Section of the On the Water exhibition focusing on the slave trade in the Atlantic World (http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/exhibition/1_4.html)
•
Illustration of Olaudah Equiano (http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/exhibition/1_2.
html#LifeAtSea1)
•
Essay describing details of the Brooks illustration (http://www.history.ac.uk/1807commemorated/
exhibitions/museums/brookes.html)
•
Modern listing of languages spoken in west African countries, along with audio files and written samples (http://www.gowestafrica.org/media/languages.php)
•
Essay entitled “Insurrection On Board Slave Ships,” part of the Slavery in America Web site (http://
www.slaveryinamerica.org/history/hs_es_insurrection.htm)
Life at Sea: Middle Passage Page 4 of 7
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.
Map by Willem Janszoon Blaeu
Courtesy of the Historic Maps Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University
Library
Life at Sea: Middle Passage Page 5 of 7
The slave decks of the ship Brooks, 1788
This famous plan has appeared in almost every study of the Middle Passage published since 1788. Working
from measurements of a Liverpool slave ship, a British parliamentary committee filled the drawing’s decks with
figures representing men, women, and children. The drawing shows about 450 people; the Brooks carried 609
on a voyage in 1786.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Life at Sea: Middle Passage Page 6 of 7
Life at Sea: Middle Passage Lent by the National Museum of African American History and Culture
These ankle shackles are of the type used to restrain enslaved people aboard ships in the Middle Passage.
Shackles
Page 7 of 7