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Olaudah Equiano was born in 1745 to the Igbo people in the region now known as Nigeria. The youngest son, he had five brothers and a younger sister. When he was eleven, he and his sister were kidnapped and sold to native slaveholders. After changing hands several times, Equiano was taken to the coast where he was held by European slave traders. He was transported with 244 other enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to Barbados in the West Indies, from where he and a few others were soon transferred to the British colony of Virginia.

Olaudah_Equiano
Image Credit: The Times

He was bought by Michael Pascal, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Pascal renamed the boy as Gustavus Vassa, after the Swedish noble who had become Gustav I of Sweden, king in the 16th century. Equiano had already been renamed twice: he was called Michael while on the slave ship that brought him to the Americas; and Jacob, by his first owner. This time Equiano refused and told his new owner that he would prefer to be called Jacob. His refusal, he says, “gained me many a cuff” – and eventually he submitted to the new name.

Equiano wrote in his narrative that domestic slaves in Virginia were treated cruelly, suffering punishments such as an “iron muzzle” (scold’s bridle), used around the mouth to keep house slaves quiet, leaving them unable to speak or eat. He thought that the eyes of portraits followed him wherever he went, and that a clock could tell his master about anything Equiano did wrong. Shocked by this culture, Equiano tried washing his face in an attempt to change its colour.

As the slave of a naval captain, Equiano was trained in seamanship and traveled extensively with his master. This was during the Seven Years War with France. Although Pascal’s personal slave, Equiano was expected to assist the crew in times of battle; his duty was to haul gunpowder to the gun decks. Pascal favoured Equiano and sent him to his sister-in-law in Great Britain, to attend school and learn to read.

At this time, Equiano converted to Christianity. His master allowed Equiano to be baptized in St Margaret’s, Westminster, on February 1759. Despite the special treatment, after the British won the war, Equiano did not receive a share of the prize money, as was awarded to the other sailors. Pascal had promised his freedom, but did not release him.

Pascal sold Equiano to Captain James Doran of the Charming Sally at Gravesend, from where he was transported to Montserrat, in the Caribbean Leeward Islands. He was sold to Robert King, a Quaker merchant from Philadelphia who traded in the Caribbean. Pascal had instructed Doran to ensure that he sold Equiano “to the best master he could, as he told him I was a very deserving boy, which Captain Doran said he found to be true

Equiano travelled to London and became involved in the abolitionist movement, which had been particularly strong amongst Quakers, but was by 1787 non-denominational. As early as 1783 he had been passing information about the slave trade to abolitionists such as Granville Sharp, and the publicisation of the Zong massacre (a cause célèbre for the abolitionist movement) can ultimately be attributed to Equiano. Equiano was a Methodist, having been influenced by George Whitefield’s evangelism in the New World.
Front page of Equiano’s autobiography

Equiano was befriended and supported by abolitionists, many of whom encouraged him to write and publish his life story. Equiano was supported financially by philanthropic abolitionists and religious benefactors; his lectures and preparation for the book were promoted by, among others, Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon.

His account surprised many with the quality of its imagery, description, and literary style. Some who had not yet joined the abolitionist cause felt shame at learning of his suffering. Entitled The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, it was first published in 1789 and rapidly went through several editions. It is one of the earliest known examples of published writing by an African writer to be widely read in England. It was the first influential slave autobiography. Equiano’s personal account of slavery and of his experiences as a black immigrant caused a sensation on publication. The book fueled a growing anti-slavery movement in Great Britain.

The_interresting_narrative_of_the_life_of_Olaudah_Equiano
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano

The autobiography goes on to describe how Equiano’s adventures brought him to London, where he married into English society and became a leading abolitionist. Equiano’s book became his most lasting contribution to the abolitionist movement, as it vividly demonstrated the humanity of Africans as much as the inhumanity of slavery.

Equiano records his and Granville Sharp’s central roles in the movement. As a major voice in this movement, Equiano petitioned the King in 1788. He was appointed to an expedition to resettle London’s poor Blacks in Sierra Leone, a British colony on the west coast of Africa. He was dismissed after protesting against financial mismanagement.

The book not only was an exemplary work of English literature by a new, African author, but it also increased Equiano’s personal revenue. He traveled extensively throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland promoting the book. The returns gave him independence from benefactors and enabled him to fully chart his own purpose. He worked to improve economic, social and educational conditions in Africa, particularly in Sierra Leone.

Related to the abolitionist cause, Equiano was also a leader of the Poor Black community in London. Because of his connections, he was a prominent figure in the political realm, and he often served as a voice for his people. Equiano’s reactions and remarks were frequently published in newspapers like the Public Advertiser and the Morning Chronicle. He had more of a voice than most Africans, and he seized various opportunities to utilize it.

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