The Traumatic Impact of Slavery


Jermircle Gay 

Jaleesa Harris 

ENGL 2016-44378 

17 November 2022 

The Traumatic Impact of Slavery 



Slavery began simply because many Europeans needed laborers for cheap; it’s as simple as that, from the 16th to 19th century, Europeans traded across the Atlantic Ocean for goods, which became known as the transatlantic slave trade. The transatlantic slave trade was a global slave trade that transported millions of African Americans across the Atlantic Ocean and was the second of the three stages of the triangular trade, which is the trading between three ports across the Atlantic ocean. The transatlantic slave trade played a huge part in the traumatic impact of slavery on generations to come, which brings me to the topic of The Interesting Narrative of Equiano. The Interesting Narrative of Equiano is about the story of Olaudah Equiano, a writer, abolitionist and victim of the transatlantic slave trade. Equiano and his sister were kidnapped from their Igbo village and taken away from their family when Equiano was eleven. They were later separated and seen each other each other a few months after their capture, but their reunion did not last as Equiano was sold to slave traders shortly after. He was then taken to the West Indies where he was sold to a sea captain by the name of Michael Henry Pascal, Pascal for short. Though many people treated Equiano with care as a slave, that didn’t mean that it didn’t negatively impact him. The horrific process of the slave trade gave young Equiano nightmares as he would constantly hear “shrieks of woman,” “groans of dying,” and bodies hitting the water, which I’m sure would affect anyone mentally. Equiano also had thoughts of suicide, need I remind you, at the very young age of eleven. Due to Equiano’s capture, he was also unable to receive a proper education, not only scholastically but religiously. With the inhuman treatment of the slave trade and inability to see any of his family, Equiano likely led to some form of PTSD and depression that lasted and remained untreated for years. Still, Equiano persevered and lived to tell his story through his self-titled narrative. Equiano contributes to our theme, “The Sea is Haunted,” because the majority of the narrative takes place on a ship at sea where death has taken place. Bodies have been overthrown, which leads to the sea being “haunted” by those who have died throughout his journey. Equiano’s story and slavery will forever affect generations simply because slavery is a generational curse. Many African Americans may not be hard laborers in today’s time, but many wills and have experienced poverty, inequality, and unfair treatment by other races, just like so back then. 




Works Cited Loury, Glenn C. “An American Tragedy: The Legacy of Slavery Lingers in Our Cities’ Ghettos.” Brookings, Brookings, 28 July 2016, https://www.brookings.edu/articles/an-american-tragedy-the-legacy-of-slavery-lingers-in-our-cities-ghettos/. “Transatlantic Slave Trade.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/topic/transatlantic-slave-trade. “Olaudah Equiano.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Olaudah-Equiano. “Africans in America/Part 1/Olaudah Equiano.” PBS


, Public Broadcasting Service, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p276.html. 

U.S. Slavery: Timeline, Figures & Abolition - History. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery. 


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