Equiano was fearful at first about his fate in the West Indies, but he was able to persuade Captain Doran to sell him to a kind owner.
It's rather surprising that that Equiano was given an "allowance" to live on. Of course, to varying degrees slaves, at least in the U.S. could earn a little money sometimes to put away to later buy their freedom. I'm not sure if it's implied that the same opportunities for manumission were available in the West Indies.
Equiano seems to have been given a certain degree of autonomy to oversea and apply himself to several trades. His master realizes he'd be wasting his talent as a fieldhand. Especially when asked about his skills, in which Equiano said he had some seamanship knowledge. Equiano was allowed to apply his trades. Mr. King (his master) was even offered money several times to buy Equiano from him, but it made Equiano more loyal and happy that his master always turned down the offers.
Equino was however, not out of sight, out of mind when it came to witnessing brutalities commited upon other slaves, such as seeing a slave's ears cut for consorting with a White prostitute, for example. He also claimed that as many as 20,000 slaves were killed from slavery conditions in The West Indies, requiring constant replenishment of new slaves brought to the islands.
Equiano was fearful at first about his fate in the West Indies, but he was able to persuade Captain Doran to sell him to a kind owner.
ReplyDeleteIt's rather surprising that that Equiano was given an "allowance" to live on. Of course, to varying degrees slaves, at least in the U.S. could earn a little money sometimes to put away to later buy their freedom. I'm not sure if it's implied that the same opportunities for manumission were available in the West Indies.
Equiano seems to have been given a certain degree of autonomy to oversea and apply himself to several trades. His master realizes he'd be wasting his talent as a fieldhand. Especially when asked about his skills, in which Equiano said he had some seamanship knowledge. Equiano was allowed to apply his trades. Mr. King (his master) was even offered money several times to buy Equiano from him, but it made Equiano more loyal and happy that his master always turned down the offers.
Equino was however, not out of sight, out of mind when it came to witnessing brutalities commited upon other slaves, such as seeing a slave's ears cut for consorting with a White prostitute, for example. He also claimed that as many as 20,000 slaves were killed from slavery conditions in The West Indies, requiring constant replenishment of new slaves brought to the islands.