od and housing for them and their families. They did no more work than the other people in the village did. Their clothing, housing, food and mannerisms were the same as the people who owned them. European influence started to affect slavery in Africa and it was now becoming an enterprise rather than a legal system for punishment. Traders would come to Africa selling goods to these people, who did not have access to these goods before, in exchange for slaves. These traders would bribe chiefs of tribes to go out and capture neighboring villagers in exchange for goods, encouraging the kidnapping and enslavement of fellow Africans. “When a trader wants slaves, he applies to a chief for them, and tempts him with his wares.” This was all a part of the European Triangular Trade. Goods were brought to Africa in order to trade with the Africans. Slaves were then shipped to the Americas to produce more goods to be sent to Europe in order start the whole trade cycle again. Equiano was a victim of this Triangular Trade enterprise and was taken away from everything he had ever known at the young age of 11. He was traded from tribe to tribe and in most cases was treated just like any other child of the village. He is labeled as a slave, though the treatment he receives does not fall under the stereotypical conditions of a slave. He was allowed to play with other children and was treated like a member of many of the households where he was detained and never once mistreated. Though he was filled with fright with each corner he turned, nothing could prepare him for the mistreatment he would receive later down the road. The “face” of slavery at this point was very lenient and almost a carefree face until Equiano was kidnapped again and brought to the coast of Africa to be sold to a slave ship intended for use by the middle passage. It was here on the west coast that slaves became an easy access for European trade...
