Early in his time as an enslaved boy on a ship, Equiano became obsessed with learning how to read after he saw English people onboard poring over books. He travelled widely promoting the book, which became immensely . Equiano was born in an African village and kidnapped into slavery at the age of eleven. His research interests are in African history and the history of Africans in the Atlantic World. 1-23. IvyPanda. Pascal shocked Equiano at the end of the war in 1762 when he refused to grant him his freedom, instead selling him into the horrors of West Indian slavery. IvyPanda. Equiano, Olaudah, b. Canadian businesswoman and civil libertarian. Looking back on the incident he ponders the results of his actions due to his faith and what he believed God had sought him to do thus seeing that they were the result of his strong relationship with God; I could not help thinking, that if any of these people had been lost, God would charge me with their lives, which, perhaps, was one cause of my labouring so hard for their preservation.[3] This evolution of character is spurred on by the acceptance and then development of Equianos faith in Christianity which then affects all of his actions as he sees every major moment of life or death as a trial set out for him by God to overcome through his self developed virtues. While enslaved in his homeland, kidnappers kept Equiano separated from his sister. Knowing that what awaits him in the West Indies can only be comparable to the brutality that Equiano experienced when he was first enslaved, he tries everything he can to escape. Recent biographical discoveries cast doubt on Equianos story of his birth and early years. Equianos Influence and Narrative. Slavery is not just a moral matter; inequality is also encoded into the legal structure of places like Barbados. Equiano switches the stereotypical terms of civilized and savage by calling an African tribe more civilized than English culture. His growing affection for Christianity is developed after his baptism at the request of the Miss Guerins, whom are friends of Equianos master at the time, Michael Henry Pascal. Where Was Olaudah Equiano Born? Bryan Carey. The story of Equiano, while possibly untrue in this case, might have been a reality for someone else. Thus, the implications that one individual lied to influence the process that helped to free many people do not change the seriousness of the issue. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides. Starting in 1772, slavery was no longer legal within Britain, but it wasnt until 1807 that the Slave Trade Act suppressed the international slave trade in the British Empire. The very land of Montserrat is traumatizing to Equiano, as the West Indies in general represent one key part of the international slave trade. Religion thus permeates the text and is an important component in Equiano's attainment of selfhood and identity. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." His preferred identity that of a Christian European under the name of Gustavus Vassa eventually was able to also retain the African aspects of Olaudah Equiano through the similarities of his former nations customs and that of this western religion of Christianity allowing for him to see himself finally as, culturally, a natural European. Fordham University, 2013. (including. Happily perhaps for myself I was soon reduced so low here that it was thought necessary to keep me almost always on deck; and from my extreme youth I was not put in fetters. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. As one of only a handful of 18th-century Afro-British writers, Equiano makes the countercultural argument that Igbos (and Africans) are equal image-bearers to Europeans, and they live in functioning societies complete with a sexual division of labor, a robust system of justice, and a complex religious system. Baptismal and naval records say that he was born in South Carolina sometime between 1745 and 1747. Complete your free account to request a guide. However, the question of credibility of the facts introduced in his book may change ones perception of Equianos narrative. J.E. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2001. In his autobiography, Equiano detailed his experiences as a slave, as well as his eventual emancipation. Europeans would capture black people in Africa, or buy them from traders on the coast; they would then ship them to the West Indies to be sold as slaves, trading them for raw goods cultivated on plantations, and would carry these raw materials back to Europe to be processed and then sold in Africa and elsewhere. This turned out to be a smart business decision; he made a fair amount of money from sales of the Interesting Narrative. Though he spent a brief period in the state of Virginia, much of Equiano's time in slavery was spent serving the captains of slave ships and British navy vessels. Excerpts from the book now appear in every anthology and on any website covering American, African American, British, and Caribbean history and literature of the 18th century. His writings also compare Igbo and ancient Israelite practices, noting Igbo circumcision, and suggest that Igbo and Jewish naming practices are similar because the two cultures name their children in light of an important event or a notable circumstance surrounding ones birth. The Interesting Narrative is an essential work because of Equianos vivid rendering of enslaved peoples experience of the slave trade, his picture of 18th-century Africa as a model of social harmony defiled by greed, and his eloquent argument in support of abolition. To Tell a Free Story: The First Century of Afro-American Autobiography, 17601865. It was designed by one of the workers at Josiah Wedgwoods pottery factory; Wedgwood was active in the abolitionist campaign and was one of the first subscribers to Equianos book. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Equiano, the African: Biography of a Self-Made Man. Why are Olaudah Equiano writings important? An Africans Life: The Life and Times of Olaudah Equiano, 17451797. Distinguishing itself from the arguments of abolitionists Thomas Clarkson and John Newton, Equianos Christian argument against the slave trade and slavery proved historically unique because he wrote about the horror of slavery, having experienced it firsthand.

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