Primary Source Preview
WORLD HISTORY PROJECT1200/ LESSON 3.6OPENERPRIMARY SOURCE PREVIEWUnless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Credit: “Primary Source Preview”, OER Project, www.oerproject.com/1PurposeAs you read a firsthand account of someone who lived through the Atlantic slave trade, consider the perspective of an enslaved personand thinkabout both the emotional impact and the bigger historical picture. Previewing the source and creatingsome questions based on the excerpt will prepare you for the upcoming lesson.Process1.Read the excerpt and highlight or underline words or phrases that stand out to you.Soon after this, the blacks who brought me on board went off, and left me abandoned to despair. I now saw myself deprived [robbed] of all chance of returning to my native country, or even the least glimpse of hope of gaining the shore, which I now considered as friendly, and even wished for my former slavery, in preference to my present situation, which was filled with horrors of every kind still heightened by my ignorance of what I was to undergo.-Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African.1789.2.What emotions does Equiano express in this passage?3.What situation do you think Equiano is describing?4.Generate two or threequestions about what you’d need to know to fully understand the historical context of this passage. 5.If you can, share your questions with a classmate.