Olaudah Equiano (c.1745-1797): The Former Slave, Seaman & Writer: The Abolition of Slavery Project Olaudah Equiano, was a former enslaved African, seaman and merchant who wrote an autobiography depicting the horrors of slavery and lobbied Parliament for its abolition. In his biography, he records he was born in what is now Nigeria, kidnapped and sold into slavery as a child. He then endured the middle passage on a slave ship bound for the New World. After a short period of time in Barbados, Equiano was shipped to Virginia and put to work weeding grass and gathering stones. In 1757, he was bought by a naval captain (Captain Pascal) for about £40, who named him Gustavas Vassa. Equiano was about 12 when he first arrived in England. He served Pascal during naval campaigns in Canada and then in the Mediterranean. He came to London before returning to sea, working as an able seaman, steward and, once, as acting captain. In 1775, he travelled to the Caribbean and became involved in setting up a new plantation colony on the coast of Central America. Equiano worked hard to promote the book.
AFRICAN RESISTANCE TO SLAVERY Chattel slavery, as it existed, was the worst kind of human bondage. Africans fought against and resisted slavery in their (1470 - 1800) homeland, on the seas, and in America. There was continuous resistance against Europeans during every phase of the slave trade. Much of the information about the resistance to slavery came from written documents kept by the European sailors. African leaders and those opposing the European slave trade, organized and assigned large groups to keep watch for slave ships traveling to the East and whose crews were well-known for kidnapping Africans on the coast. Other countries that were resisting the slave trade throughout the continent of Africa were Senegal, Ghana, Benin, Ni geria, and Angola.
Queen Nzinga In the sixteenth century, the Portugese position in the slave trade was threatened by England and France. As a result, the Portugese shifted their slave-trading activities to the Congo and South West Africa. Mistaking the title of the ruler (ngola) for the name of the country, the Portugese called the land of the Mbundu people Angola—the name by which it is still known today. Here, the Portugese encountered the brilliant and courageous Queen Nzinga, who was determined never to accept the Portugese conquest of her country. Her meeting with the Portugese governor, recorded by a Dutch artist, is legendary in the history of Africa's confrontations with Europe: Representing her brother, the ngola, Nzinga arrived at Luanda in royal splendor. Converting to Christianity for reasons more political than religious (primarily to forge links with the governor) she adopted the name Dona Anna de Souza. Subsequently, Nzinga formed an alliance with the Jaga.
AFRICAN REVOLT| Black Slave Revolt | Zanzibar Revolt "And then you saw the emergence also of men like Muhammad Al-Amin and Momadou Toure. Of course we had Nzinga and the Southern areas of Africa as well that was fighting its resistance against European invasion. All the way up until the 17th Century men like Sheikh Uthman Dan Fodiod and Umar Futi as well as Ahmed Lobo. Drapetomania was a supposed mental illness described by American physician Samuel A. To the Italians surprise, the treaty was rejected despite their attempt to influence the king with 2 million round of ammunition. Baratieri was no stranger to battle and devised a good strategy to lure the Ethiopians into an ambush. First, he had drastically underestimated the strength and will of the army facing him. In the meantime, Menelik II had trapped a thousand or so of the Italian army and besieged them. The second error Baratieri made was the assumption he could lure the Ethiopians out into an ambush. Adwa timeline Sahle Maryam (Menelik II) is born on 19 August in Ankober
Thomas Clarkson campaigner for abolition | Revealing Histories Thomas Clarkson campaigner for abolition Leading anti-slavery activist Thomas Clarkson was a leading activist in Britain against the transatlantic slave trade. He helped found the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade and was a main force in bringing about the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which legally ended British trade in enslaved Africans. Clarkson was born in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England in 1760. In 1785, Cambridge University held an essay competition on the subject 'Is it right to make men slaves against their wills?'. 'A direct revelation from God ordering me to devote my life to abolishing the trade'. Clarkson contacted Granville Sharp, a known anti-slavery campaigner. Evidence of inhumanity of slavery Thomas Clarkson was responsible for collecting information to support the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. Lectures in Manchester There was clearly a not insignificant black population in Manchester and the north west at the time. Dedication to the cause
Joseph Cinque Joseph was a rice farmer and trader, but he was enslaved for debt and sold to the nasty Spanish slaver Pedro Blanco, on Lomboko Island at the mouth of the Gallinas River , in April 1839. Cinque was then carried to Havana , where he was resold with 51 others, many of them Mendians, and shipped aboard the coasting schooner Amistad which was going to the Cuban sugar plantations near the port of Guanaja, Puerto Principe. On June 30, Cinque encouraged the slaves to revolt at sea, killing the captain and cook and taking prisoner their owners, two merchants named Ruiz and Montez. Cinque tried to force Montez to pilot the vessel to Africa , but Montez reversed the course repeatedly, zigzagging up the North American coast. President Van Buren and Secretary of State John Forsyth, were sympathetic to the slaveholders' claims and pressured by the Spanish government, tried to remove the case from the courts and transport the Africans to Cuba . Sources The fullest account of Cinque is William A.
History - British History in depth: William Wilberforce: The Real Abolitionist? The Use of Petitions Opposition to the Society Thomas Clarkson talking about the famous logo