Mercedes Pierce | 1

The Marginalization of Enslaved Africans’ Voices

Slave trade in the Atlantic started in the 15th century, ignited by the European discorvery

and conquest of the New World along with the increased need for cheep labor. However, the

transatlantic slave trade did not blossom until 16th century, posing an important economic and

cultural force all the way through the 19th century. Part of the impact of the save trade can be

seen in the marginalization of enslaved Africans’ voices at the time and the cultural remnants of

this systemic continue to suppress the voices of black Americans today. Silencing the voices of

enslaved Africans benefited their white owners by enforcing a sense of superiority and reducing

the risk of retaliation. Between 1450 and 1750, the voices of enslaved Africans were nearly

completely silenced by white Europeans. They used tactics such as erasing the sense of identity

of enslaved Africans and making it harder for them to make their voices heard in the Americas.

One of the primary ways in which the voices of enslaved Africans were marginalized was

by stripping away their sense of identity. Many Africans were kidnapped and shipped away to

the Americas, having no idea what was happening or where they were headed. This total

separation and isolation was not a coincidence. The Europeans purposely removed the Africans

from everything that they knew, thus removing any sense of power. One example of this is the

practice of entirely splitting up families at their arrival to the Americas. They were completely

separated from their families at slave auctions, destined to never see each other again. By

isolating salves and placing them amongst people that did not speak their language, slave owners

were able to effectively strip away sense of identity and heritage was completely lost. Without

this, many enslaved Africans lost their traditions, languages and communities and thus their
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voices. Another example of identity erasure is the Christianity forced onto enslaved Africans.

When they arrived to the Americas and were placed under the control of a white owner, the

owners often obligated their slaves to become Christian. They forced the enslaved Africans to

abandon their African religions and traditions in favor of Christianity. The forced adoption of

Christianity, which would later integrate with surviving African beliefs, replaced the African

religions that they came to the Americas with. This furthered the destruction and disappearances

of the slaves’ African heritage along with silencing the voices of these Africans.

Once enslaved Africans became a large portion of American society, those in power took

further steps to perpetuate their systematic oppression. Some of said steps included restricting the

slaves’ ability to be educated and their right to assemble. Toward the beginning of the 18th

century, slave owners started imposing rules against the education of slaves. These laws, such as

the South Carolina Act of 1740, were known as anti-literacy laws. It became illegal to teach

slaves to read or write. This was yet another way to control and dismiss the voices of enslaved

Africans. White slave owners saw the education of their slaves as a threat to their power so they

made it illegal. In this system, there was no way that enslaved Africans would garner any respect

from their white counterparts because they had no education. This kept them at the bottom of the

social tier, just as the owners wanted. In many places, white owners also made it illegal for

slaves to assemble without the presence of a white man. This ensured that it would be impossible

for any group retaliation on behalf of the enslaved Africans. This violation of what we now

consider basic rights allowed for the outright silencing of their voices.

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; Or Gustavus Vassa, the

​ ritten by Olaudah Equiano is an autobiography that depicts the experience of a slave

African w
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being torn from his home in southern Nigeria and shipped to Virginia where he lived his life as a

slave. He tells the solemn story of how he was separated from his parents and his siblings when

he was kidnapped by African slave merchants. He recalls,

The next day proved one of greater sorrow than I had yet experienced; for my

sister and I were separated, while we lay clasped in each other’s arms: it was in

vain that we besought them not to part us; she was torn from me, and immediately

carried away, while I was left in a state of distraction not to be described (37).

Equiano’s experience of isolation corroborates with the ideas of identity erasure previously

mentioned. This real life experience shows the effects of being torn from one’s home and how

that translates into not having a voice that is heard later on. Equiano’s account of his kidnapping

is told many years after the events transpired, but he is not alone in his experiences. While not

every enslaved African had the same path as Equiano, as he was able to buy his freedom later on

in life, many of his experiences as a slave mirror those of other enslaved people.

The American society was heavily based on the oppression of black people, especially

enslaved Africans, and the suppression of their voices and, to a certain extent, it still is. The

barriers that were put into place by white slave owners in between the 15th and 19th centuries

ensured that they remained the dominant force in America and the only people whose voices

could be heard. The ultimate destruction of African identity and the purposefully silencing

obstacles put into place planted the roots for centuries of systemic oppression in the United

States and the rest of the New World. The marginalization of the voices of enslaved Africans

between 1450 and 1750 has proved to be detrimental and permanently ingrained in our society.
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; Or Gustavus Vassa, the African b​ y

Olaudah Equiano can be viewed in its entirety ​here​.