In The Classic Slave Narratives, By Henry Louis Gates R.

Great Essays
In the Classic Slave Narratives, a novel written by Henry Louis Gates Jr., it tells the stories of four well known slaves that lived in the era of slavery. The best known slaves were, Olaudah Equiano and Frederick Douglass. Both of these men experienced different form of slavery, and had different views on how they were treated. Olaudah and his younger sister were kidnapped at the age of eleven, and they were sold into slavery. Frederick on the other hand was born into slavery back in 1818. In this novel both of these men tell their stories and give us an insight on how their lives were living in slavery. Their narratives go into detail on how they were treated, what they saw, and what their own experiences were trying to escape.
Olaudah Equiano
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He was born in Talbot county, Maryland but the day of his birth is unknown. All of the slaves Douglass had ever known did not know when their birthdays were because since the day they were born they were born into slavery. “ The nearest estimate I can give makes me now between twenty-seven or twenty-eight years of age” (Gates 315). It is said that many slaveholders would impregnate their female slaves. Frederick 's father was a white man and many people told him that his own father was his master. At the age of about seven, his mother passed away. I was not until a few days later that he found out, he was not affected in any way. Although he was part white, by law he had to become a slave just like his mother. “ I received the tidings of her death with much the same emotion...as that of a stranger”(Gates 317). His first master was Captain Anthony, he was a drunk as was very cruel to his slaves. Captain Anthony would constantly abuse Fredericks aunt in front of him, he felt that in some way he was also to blame for the abuse that was happening. Frederick did not know what to do to stop the abuse, or how to do anything for that fact. One major event that Douglass can remember was one night when his aunt Hester is needed by their master and she is nowhere to be found. The master finds out that she had went out with another slave named Ned, and went against the master 's orders. When she was found, their master made her strip from neck to waist and stood her on a stool. He then proceeded to roll up his sleeves and began to whip Hester until she was bleeding and screaming for mercy. “I was so terrified and horror-stricken at the sight, that I hid myself in a closet” (Gates

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