The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano,
or Gustavus Vassa.
Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa
By: Ian McShea
Olaudah Equiano was born in Eboe, a place in Guinea. However, the actual place of his birth is disputed by many historians. He had a large family, but in his biography he mainly talks about his Younger sister. He was part of a tribe, where everyone lived in a little village and hunted and farmed.
Olaudah Equiano spent most of his life “moving”. When he turned 11 he and his sister were captured by slave traders and took them all over Africa, where they worked for various people as slaves. They were separated for a while, but when he was sold to a family in Côte d’Ivoire, they ended up by fate, in the same place. This was short lived, as for only a little while; his sister was then taken to another place. He never saw her again. He then was taken again and put on a slave ship, where he was taken to the colonies. He was a slave in the colonies for a long time in Virginia. He then was bought by Captain Michael Pascal, Who renamed him Gustavus Vassa. Being on a ship for a long time, he got same naval training during the 7 years war with France. He became Pascal’s favorite servant, and sent him to his sister’s to go to school in England, where he learned to read and write.
Equiano was sold to Montserrat, in the Caribbean Leeward Islands. Since he could read and write, and was able to navigate a ship, he wasn’t a favorable slave. He was acquired by Robert King, a Quaker merchant from Philadelphia. King promised that for forty pounds, the price he paid for Equiano, he could buy his freedom. He was educated more and more and was taught the Christian faith. He then was able to pay King for his freedom. He then moved to England, where he began his work on hs biography.
He joined the abolitionist movement and his biography is the first written information on the accounts of a slave, which helped to spearhead the abolitionist movement. His biography revealed the horrors of slavery, and spread the truth about slavery. Slavery, he explained, brutalizes everyone - the slaves, their overseers, plantation wives, and the whole of society.
He contributed the freeing of slaves and the abolition of slavery altogether. He made the world change, and showed, truly, that the pen is mightier than the sword. He died in 1797.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Defiance
Defiance is defined as the act of challenging the power of, or to boldly and openly resist. Defiance is usually considered a negative thing; that being defiant is like committing a crime. To many, defiance is bad, and that doesn’t seem fair to defiance. Defiance can have great results, and can create good. Let’s look closer at what defiance is and how it’s helped society.
There is an old saying, “When in Rome, do as the Romans.” This is the primary basis around the conformist idea; that it is better to do what everyone else is doing, and not cause problems. Many people are conformist. When individuality s suppressed, conformism is at it’s greatest. Conformism isn’t necessarily a positive thing. When people conform, they usually don’t do it in their interest, but in the interest of others. Conformism usually results in the lack of self. Self, as in one person’s individuality, and individuality is the next step from defiance.
Defiance, now, is an open idea. When one acts in contradiction to how the majority acts, then they are being defiant, but that doesn’t make it wrong. When someone asks you to give n example of defiance, you might ay something like “a person doing bad when everyone else does good.” Here’s another good example of defiance, “someone doing good when everyone else does bad.” Confused? Good. You should be. Why? Because we have been conformed to the idea that defiance is always bad, that defiance is bad, like someone robbing a store, truly a defiant act. However, defiance can be anything, as long as it contradicts the actions of others around you. In the example, I showed that if everyone in the world did bad, and you, one person, did only good, you would be defiant, because you act in contradiction to everyone else.
If it weren’t for defiance, we wouldn’t live the contemporary society we take advantage. The founding fathers defied England by separating from the crown. They chose to be an individual nation, and defied the crown. Mahatma Gandhi believed that good could come from civil disobedience, defiance. So did Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Jr., Henry David Thoreau, Thomas Jefferson, Rosa Parks, Che Guevara, etc.
So, in conclusion, defiance can’t be all bad because of all the good it’s caused. Also, all those famous people who believed in defiance, are considered great revolutionaries, and why would great revolutionaries do something bad?
There is an old saying, “When in Rome, do as the Romans.” This is the primary basis around the conformist idea; that it is better to do what everyone else is doing, and not cause problems. Many people are conformist. When individuality s suppressed, conformism is at it’s greatest. Conformism isn’t necessarily a positive thing. When people conform, they usually don’t do it in their interest, but in the interest of others. Conformism usually results in the lack of self. Self, as in one person’s individuality, and individuality is the next step from defiance.
Defiance, now, is an open idea. When one acts in contradiction to how the majority acts, then they are being defiant, but that doesn’t make it wrong. When someone asks you to give n example of defiance, you might ay something like “a person doing bad when everyone else does good.” Here’s another good example of defiance, “someone doing good when everyone else does bad.” Confused? Good. You should be. Why? Because we have been conformed to the idea that defiance is always bad, that defiance is bad, like someone robbing a store, truly a defiant act. However, defiance can be anything, as long as it contradicts the actions of others around you. In the example, I showed that if everyone in the world did bad, and you, one person, did only good, you would be defiant, because you act in contradiction to everyone else.
If it weren’t for defiance, we wouldn’t live the contemporary society we take advantage. The founding fathers defied England by separating from the crown. They chose to be an individual nation, and defied the crown. Mahatma Gandhi believed that good could come from civil disobedience, defiance. So did Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Jr., Henry David Thoreau, Thomas Jefferson, Rosa Parks, Che Guevara, etc.
So, in conclusion, defiance can’t be all bad because of all the good it’s caused. Also, all those famous people who believed in defiance, are considered great revolutionaries, and why would great revolutionaries do something bad?
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