This assignment was to read an excerpt from a book about the person in which you were assigned. Then you had to summarize the story of the person you read about, explain evidence of resistance and what you learned from the excerpt.
“Sarah”
The personal story being told is about an African girl who was enslaved and put on a ship. When the slaves came onto the deck for exercise by dancing she was always lively. She appeared to have good nature and she was known as the best singer and dancer on the ship. This girl was a favorite of the captains and he gave her the biblical name Sarah. By giving her this name he was associating a slave with a beautiful princess. She was a in fact a favorite and well respected. The captain also often gave her better things than others got. On the journey there was an uprising from the slaves in order to kill the crew and take over the ship. The captain and his men thought that maybe Sarah and her mother had been a part of the planning of this uprising even though they had not actually been with the men that began it. The two women denied having been any part of the uprising. While people on the ship began to talk of their defeat they crew and captain became aware that both of the women were involved in the planning. With Sarah being the favorite she was able to get things that allowed men to get their shackles off. Sarah survived any punishments that followed her helping plan the uprising, and she was sold at Grenada. When she went ashore she brought her “African traditions of dance, song, and resistance with her.”
There was evidence of resistance in Sarah’s story, because she was highly respected by the other people on the ship; although she was known as the favorite she was not known as a snitch. Also Sarah helped plan an uprising.
In this story I learned about conditions on slave ships and relationships that can occur. I learned that the people on these ships were in shackles, but they also got exercise on the main deck. Also I learned that the Captain will sometimes have a favorite and that person will have better conditions than the rest. Also that person is can either be despised by the others, or well respected.
(Slave Ship, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_ship)
