Olaudah Equiano

             The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is a detailed story about the life of a well-educated slave published. One section of the story in particular describes one of his many experiences in the New World with one of his owners. This narrative is a very powerful one telling about the treatment of slaves, but also many of the good things Equiano experienced while he was a slave. He gives a seemingly honest and unbiased account to his travels abroad.
             Equiano was born in 1745 in an Ibo village located in Nigeria called Essaka and in 1756 captured by British slave traders. He was brought to the West Indies and later to a Virginia Plantation. During the Seven Year's War he was present in many of the important naval battles. At the time he was the property of a British man, Lt. Michael Henry Pascal, who had originally bought him as a gift to a cousin in London. After ten years he was sold to a Quaker named Robert King, who eventually allowed him to buy his freedom for forty pounds. Equiano then traveled the globe, as he was an experienced seaman. He spent much of his time in London, where he was pushing the Queen in 1788 to allow the settlement of blacks back in Africa in the British colony of Sierra Leone. Despite his efforts, he never made it back to his homeland of Africa, though. He was married in London in 1792 and had one daughter, but soon after died in 1797 (Costanzo "Equiano")
             Equaino is most noted though, for his autobiography, which was published nine times, including an American edition in 1791, and German and Dutch editions in 1790 and 1791 respectively. Overall, nine editions were published before 1837. The book was a bestseller for many years and still read today as possibly one of the first influential slave narratives (Costanzo Suprising Narrative)
             Equaino writes his narrative in a very honest and informal form, as if he is writing to someone that he knows well. The...

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Olaudah Equiano. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 21:38, April 24, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/53369.html