What did a former slave think about the Translatlantic slave trade? In this paper, I will describe the relationship between an archival advertisement for a slave sale and the 18th century autobiography by Olaudah Equiano known as The Interesting Narrative. The object entitled “Advertisement for Slave Sale, New Orleans, May 13, 1835” was obtained from The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas digital archive in the Slave Sales and Auctions: African Coast and the Americas section from the University of Virginia Foundation of the Humanities, “Slavery Images.” It is an orange advertisement stating that the owner is leaving for Europe, and he is selling his slaves. There are ten slaves who are men and women, including a married couple and mothers, and children. Thus, it appears that these ten slaves were like an extended family, even though one of them was an orphan. However, the advertising makes it seem like the slaves were products to be sold instead of human beings. This degrading slave advertisement is evocative of Equiano’s narrative because Equiano compares the slave trade in Africa to the Atlantic slave trade, stating that Africans treated slaves better and included them in the community. As the slaves are being described in the advertisement based on skin tone and relations to each other, it eerily resembles the sale of pets or cattle. In the Atlantic slave trade, Europeans regarded black slaves as inferior to whites.
In the first chapter, Equiano quotes the Bible when he critiques slavery in America, which he claims treats African Americans harshly. In the advertisement, I noted that the author uses terms like mulatto, mulatress, and creole. Though the slaves were obviously human, the whites treated them like animals. They could clearly see that Africans formed families and had emotions just like whites. However, as Equiano writes, the whites felt superior to the Africans: “If, when they look around the world, they feel exaltation, let it be tempered with benevolence to others, and gratitude to God, who hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all face of the earth” (45). The term “one blood” represents equality and unity. Equiano is calling out white supremacy and denouncing racism as a justification for the harsh treatment of slaves, which is promoted by the advertisement by its objectification of them as means of labor. Equiano also uses Judaism to show the similarities between Jews and Africans, claiming that the major difference between the two is skin color, which evidently changes over time as seen in the Spaniards when they colonized New Spain. Because Christians and Jews also have religious and historical similarities, Equiano is showing how related and interconnected slaves are to their owners, and should not be treated like possessions, aliens or sub-humans.
It is notable that the place where the slaves in the advertisement were sold is called the New Exchange, and the author gives the address. This shows that Africans were treated like commodities, much like in the slave markets of Africa as Equiano points out. However, African slaves were part of the community and had freedom to do everything but eat with their masters. Some slaves even owned slaves themselves. Equiano writes, “But how different was their condition from that of the slaves in the West Indies! With us they do no more work than other members of the community, even their master. Their food, cloathing, and lodging were nearly the same as theirs” (40). Although Africans and the western civilization had similar systems of slavery, they differed vastly in their treatment of slaves. In Africa, slaves were treated like family. They were part of the community and had the same tasks as everyone else. Thus, Equiano disagrees with slavery in America because he feels that Europeans and Americans are not treating their slaves as their equals. Therefore, the purpose of his literature is to change the European parliament’s stance on the slave trade, which was being used to assist capitalists economically. Africans were being exploited and unable to fight for their rights, but no one was standing up for them. However, in this context, this meant he was advocating for abolition only in the British colonies through the means available and not necessarily worldwide.
In conclusion, the advertisement for the slave sale in New Orleans shows the objectification of slaves during the Atlantic slave trade that Equiano claimed vastly degraded them in comparison to the slaves in Africa. According to Equiano in The Interesting Narrative, the slaves in Africa were treated more humanely–they ate, worked, and socialized with their masters. Equiano’s purpose was to draw the European parliaments’ attention to the dehumanizing treatment of slaves as commodities in the colonies. By writing his story for the western audience, he hoped that lawmakers would fight for the rights of slaves and that one day, they would be treated as equals.
