In both the autobiographies of Olaudah Equiano and Benjamin Franklin the concept of social mobility as a whole is important as an underlining theme. However their accounts are accurate only in their portrayal of the hardships faced by Africans in the colonies and of the mediocrity that overwhelmed those born to humble origins in the colonies, respectively. In terms of social mobility in colonial America during their respective time periods their autobiographies are largely inaccurate representations, and, rather, are better served as a means for us to view the prejudice and racist nature of their time.
Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography accurately portrays the destitution and miseries faced by Africans during the eighteenth century, especially early on while discussing his younger years. For one, Equiano’s abduction into slavery and deprivation of both his freedom and his family (his younger sister was separated from him soon after their kidnapping) were accurate depictions of the numerous hardships Africans were forced to endure. Equiano’s account of traveling the middle passage to the new world also correctly describes the disparaging conditions with which slaves were forced into. Often times they were crowded into ships so “that each had scarcely room to turn himself” and frequently died of sickness due to the unfathomably sordid environment as even the air was “unfit for respiration” (Equiano 58). In his later years, after having adapted to the shock of European culture and life, Equiano still received abuse and mistreatment. In fact, Equiano was almost forced back into slavery again after having already been emancipated, which further emphasizes how unfairly and arbitrarily Africans were treated.
While Equiano’s autobiography is rather accurate in its portrayal of the struggles faced by Africans during this time period, it is largely inaccurate as a representation of the social mobility Africans experienced in the colonies. Of Equiano’s first years in the...