Chapter 2/4 Personal Response

In chapters two and four, Adam Hochschild introduced us to Olaudah Equaino and James Stephen in Bury the Chains. In chapter two it came mostly from the perspective of Olaudah Equaino. He didn't talk about how much he benefited from the slave trade like Newton did, he talked about what it was like to be a slave. Olaudah Equaino talked about how treacherous the conditions were on the slave ship. How crammed and how non-sanitary it was. The Oder from the sweat, vomit and feces he said seeped into the wood of the boat and was impossible to clean out. Olaudah Equaino also talked about how he was on a hunger strike to try and kill himself. He would rather KILL himself then go through the horrible and horrifying conditions Newtons boats created. He talked about how a three slaves jumped off the side of the boat knowing they would KILL themselves from drowning. Again, these slaves wanted to die then be on the slave boat. Even though Olaudah Equaino did have a better life after the slave ship. Equaino learned how to become literate and used that to his advantage to become a "free slave". Equaino also talked about how if Britain has power and permits slavery, no black man will be free.

Chapter four started off with some background of the sugar plantations. The Caribbean is home to the top sugar fields and the most brutal place for slaves. I was told that in the Caribbean that the average slave would only live for the first three years. Now bring in James Steven. He has another personal story about the slave trade. He was a lawyer in the Caribbean and realized how horrific the slave trade actually is. He would be a primary source for a project because of his personal view of two slaves being burned at the stake. The were accused of committing a crime and were killed for it. He used this and other examples to show how much worse the Caribbean slaves had it compared to the American slaves.

Out of these two chapters, the biggest part that caught my attention was when Olaudah Equaino talked about how he and other shipmates were trying to commit suicide because of how bad it was to be on the ship. From what I have personally experienced in my life, I believe i cannot take my own life. I know that in certain circumstances it could change like Olaudah, but I just can't fathom the thought. It's really impressive how much someone can be put through and still not die. He was intentionally starving himself to perish and he was also getting beaten during it. It's really heart wrenching to know that people can put other individuals through this much pressure and hardship into anther's life. Could you do that?