Advocates for the Abolition of Slavery Olaudah Equiano...

Farming and building houses on plantations in extreme heat from the beating sun without water does not sound enticing to anyone with the modern technological amenities available in todays world. However, slaves all around the world were subjected to harsh treatment and grueling tasks like these throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. As a way of spreading accounts of these miserable lifestyles, slaves Frederick Douglass and Olaudah Equiano documented their horrifying experiences and published accounts of them. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano highlight the cruelty towards slaves during the era of realism. Although these autobiographies contain many similarities†¦show more content†¦This shows that they were willing to act against their owners in order to gain freedom. As these abolitionist ideas spread, slaves globally worked diligently towards gaining liberty and eventually earned their independenc e. Another prominent similarity in the works of Equiano and Douglass is the belief that separation from family is the worst consequence of slavery. Slaves experienced countless hardships, and unfortunately many were unable to go through them with their relatives. Equiano describes his experience of being separated from his family in Chapter II of his story. According to his account, â€Å"The next day proved a day of greater sorrow than I had yet experienced; for my sister and I were then separated, while we lay clasped in each other’s arms (29). Earlier, the Equiano siblings had been separated from their parents, which was overwhelming. However, separation from his sister left Olaudah in tears. Frederick Douglass experienced separation from his mother at a young age. He questions, â€Å"For what this separation is done, I do not know, unless it be to hinder the development of the . . . child. This is the inevitable result† (13). Douglass never met his mother as a res ult of the whites taking him away from her. Although slaves would probably work efficiently when accompanied by their family, the masters did not realize this, and consequently disconnected families. These eminent similarities in the works of Douglass and Equiano effectively portray the wicked