The title of my excerpt is Name Unknown. The personal story being told is that there was a slave and his name was unknown. He and his family came from a village called Saltpan, on the Gold Coast. He was originally a trader, probably of slaves. He was on the slave ship Brooks in the late 1783 or early 1784 with his entire family that consisted of his wife, two daughters, and mother. They were all accused of witchcraft. While he was on the slave ship, he tried to kill himself by ripping open his throat with his own fingernails. He survived this incident but died about a week after. He convinced the doctor on the ship, that slavery is wrong.
There is resistance or turmoil in this story. There is resistance or turmoil in this story when the slave, whose name is unknown, rip open his throat with his own fingernails instead of going with white men. The slave also showed resistance or turmoil when he killed himself by refusing to eat and starving himself, again to protest going with white men. This slave goes to extremes to stand up for what he believes in and to get out of slavery.
I learned many things about slavery, slave ships, and the slave trade from this personal story. One thing that I learned about slavery is how the slaves feel. I learned that most of the slaves would rather kill themselves than be slaves. One thing that I learned about slave ships is how unclean and filthy it must have been. I learned that on the ships there were dead bodies of some of the slaves and of those dead bodies, some of them still had blood on them from those slaves who killed themselves. Also, I learned that the slave ships were very packed and there was not a lot of room. One thing that I learned about the slave trade is how quickly someone can become a slave. I learned that people can be selling slaves one minute, and then the next minute they can be sold as a slave themselves.
Plans of Slave Decks, Slave Ship Brookes
Images of African Slavery and the Slave Trade
africanhistory.about.com
http://africanhistory.about.com/od/slaveryimages/ig/Slavery-Images-Gallery/SlaveShipBrookes.htm
