Olaudah Equiano Essays (1476 words) - Olaudah Equiano,

History 145 African American History 1 October 3, 2011 Olaudah Equiano It is nearly impossible to imagine what it was like to be kidnapped from your home and separated from your family. Only to be taken by strangers to experience the unknown as a young child. This is what happened to ten year Olaudah Equiano. ?But alas! Ere long it was my fate to be thus attacked, and to be carried off, when none of the grown people were nigh. One day, when all our people were gone out to their works as usual, and only I and my dear sister were left to mind the house, two men and a woman got over our walls and in a moment seized us both, and, without giving us time to cry out, or make resistance, they stopped our mouths, and ran off with us into the nearest wood. Here they tied our hands, and continued to carry us as far as they could, till night came on, when we reached a small house where the robbers halted for refreshment, and spent the night.? Olaudah and his sister were kidnapped by African salve raiders, forced to march along with other captives to the Niger River or one of its tributaries where they traded him to other Africans to be taken to the coast and sold to European slave traders whose ships sailed to the West Indies. This was the vivid remembrance Olaudah Equiano had that started the turmoil of what he called, ?hell guided by evil spirits of people. ? He was able to survive intellectually and emotionally because of the people and families he met during his journey to the ?New World.? Olaudah encountered many families that treated him well and reminded him of his home, the loving comfort of his mother that gave him a sense of security. These families had children Olaudah age. The first family he came across he described as: ?At length, after many days travelling, during which I had often changed masters I got into the hands of a chieftain, in a very pleasant country. This man had two wives and some children, and they all used me extremely well, and did all they could to comfort me; particularly the first wife, who was something like my mother.? Many of the families Olaudah lived with and worked for treated him well, on extremely rare occasions he was mistreated but for the most part, every family treated him as one of their own. The comfort of the mothers gave him the ability to stay focus in the midst of being stripped away from h is biological mother which made him feel not only welcomed but safe as well. He came across people that could speak his language and understood him. Though he traveled many miles from home, many of the languages were different from his own but with similarities. With this being said this allowed Olaudah to understand what was being said and easier to learn other languages. ?From the time I left my own nation I always found somebody that understood me till I came to the sea coast. The languages of different nations did not totally differ, nor were they so copious as those of the Europeans, particularly the English. They were therefore easily learned; and, while I was journeying thus through Africa, I acquired two or three different tongues.? As a young child part of your growing up is interaction with children your age from all different cultures. Olaudah was not deprived his childhood though he was a slave. I think being able to play and interact with other children were important to his emotional state. He was being treated ?normal? even though he was a young servant; he ate with the children and played games that resembled those of his own village. ? I had been about two or three days at his house, when a wealthy widow, a neighbor of his, came there one evening, and brought with her an only son, a young gentleman about my own age and size. Here they saw me; and, having taken a fancy to me, I was bought of the merchant, and went home with them. Her house and premises were