The abolition movement

EY7

Share skill

Time to get in the zone!

Your teacher would like you to focus on skills in .

Let's pick a skill from these categories.

Get started

Stage 1
Answer 4 out of 5 questions correctly.

Incomplete answer

You did not finish the question. Do you want to go back to the question?

As early as 1619, colonists began buying and selling enslaved people for labor in North America, primarily through the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Not all colonists believed slavery was ethical or moral. People who opposed slavery often joined the abolition movement, which aimed to

abolish,

or end, slavery.

Early abolitionists often focused on the slave trade conditions. One of the most vivid descriptions of life aboard a slave ship comes from a book written by Olaudah

Equiano.

Equiano wrote that he was born free in Africa but was captured and enslaved as a child. In the following excerpt, he describes his experiences on a slave ship bound for the Americas. Read the excerpt. Then answer the question below.

I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life. . . . I became so sick and so low that I was not able to eat. . . . But soon, to my grief, two of the white men offered me [food]; and, on my refusing to eat, one of them held me fast by the hand . . . and tied my feet, while the other flogged me severely. . . . I would have jumped over the side, but I could not; and, besides, the crew used to watch us very closely . . . lest we should leap into the water.

salutation in my nostrils

very bad smell

fast

tightly

flogged

beat with a stick

lest we should

in case we would

What conditions did Equiano experience during the Transatlantic Slave Trade?

He was able to escape by jumping overboard and swimming away, since he was not closely guarded.

He was exposed to unsanitary conditions, terrible smells, illness, and abuse by the crew.

Even though life was difficult on the slave ships, he was allowed some personal freedoms.

His living quarters were uncomfortable, but he received adequate food and medical attention.

ref_doc_title.

Learn with an example

question

Excellent! You got that right!

$Confetti$

Jumping to stage 1 of 1

Excellent!

Now entering the Challenge Zone—are you ready?

Questions
answeredQuestions

Time
elapsedTime

paused

Challenge
Stage 1 of 3

Get 4 of 5 correct

Teacher tools