Discuss the early autobiographical or fictional accounts by a slave (such as by Phillis Wheatley, Olaudah Equiano, John Gabriel Stedman or Aphra Behn), as well as the representations of slavery in the visual arts

Discuss the early autobiographical or fictional accounts by a slave (such as by Phillis Wheatley, Olaudah Equiano, John Gabriel Stedman or Aphra Behn), as well as the representations of slavery in the visual arts (such as William Blake’s illustrations, William Hackwood’s cameo, or John Singleton Copley’s painting).  How effective do you think these writers and artists were in impacting their generation?

A view, whether fictional or autobiography, someone who has actually lived through an ordeal, as opposed to someone who is on the outside looking in account is much more persuasive. Although, Olaudah Equiano narrative of his life may have been seen as a fabrication it still told the horrific conditions that his forefathers endured during the middle passage. His story was highly accurate in comparison to others. Not to take away from the writing of white authors such as John Gabriel Stedman, who gave his accounts of atrocities he witnessed against the slaves in Guiana, but to have a story told by someone who was force to live in the conditions of slavery, is much more heart-felt. Hearing a story from someone who lived through lived through slavery is much more spellbinding!