"The interesting narrative of Olaudah Equiano"

Sept. 19th, 2014
Kristen Javis, Salome Brown, Ines Peterkin, Jordan Mock, Quintera Glover

Olaudah Equiano

• Born in 1745 in the Ibo (Igbo ) culture in present day Nigeria. 
• Was captured and sold as a slave to African masters at the age of 11
• Renamed Gustavus Vassa.
• Published his autobiography in 1789 
• Died in March 31st, 1797 in London England

Originally...the piece was apart of a autobiography he wrote in 1789 as a two volume work. Going through one American and eight British expeditions.

"Let the polished and haughty European recollect that his ancestors were once, like the Africans, uncivilized, and even barbarous. Did Nature make them inferior to their sons? and should they too have been made slaves? Every rational mind answers, No" (p. 43)

His autobiography was to express how he lived before in his homeland, and how he lived. It's to show his journery to his eventual freedom and education.

In addition to explaining his early life, he described what it was like to travel abroad the ship. Although he wasn't "purchased", he was a witness to the slave trade. He described how he was moved up up the

Throughout the story you find details about how living onboard the ship really was. The difference between telling who was still alive and who wasn't under these critical conditions were very distinctive. The stench abroad the filthy ship in addition to the presence of disease and malnutrition made his journey an agonizing nightmare.

Resources
"Manifestations of Memory - Equiano, Olaudah." Manifestations of Memory - Equiano, Olaudah. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.
Equiano, Olaudah. Afterword. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African ... Second Edition. Printed and Sold for the Author, by T. Wilkins, Etc.: London, 1789. 43. Print.