Olaudah Equiano

1200 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on the interesting life of olaudah equiano

Olaudah Equiano

The slave trade, yet horrific in it’s inhumanity, became an important aspect of the world’s economy during the eighteenth century. During a time when thousands of Africans were being traded for currency, Olaudah Equiano became one of countless children kidnapped and sold on the black market as a slave. Slavery existed centuries before the birth of Equiano (1745), but strengthened drastically due to an increasing demand for labor in the developing western hemisphere, especially in the Caribbean and Carolinas. Through illogical justification, slave trading became a powerful facet of commerce, regardless of its deliberate mistreatment of human beings by other human beings. Olaudah Equiano was able to overcome this intense adversity and actually accumulate wealth by making the best of certain situations he faced throughout his experiences. Even though he was a victim of the slave trade, he willfully took advantage of the opportunity to see the world and to become a productive individual.

Olaudah Equiano and his sister were kidnapped by slave traders from their native village in Isseke, Nigeria. The nature of the African village, Isseke, was labor based and emphasized the concept of earning profit from hard work. There was a strong sense of community among these villagers, as Equiano explains in his personal narrative, “Thus we are all habituated to labor from our earliest years. Everyone contributes something to the common stock; and, as we are unacquainted with idleness, we have no beggars” (39)

The concept of slavery was accepted as a part of the culture and even in the fields of Isseke, Africa slaves were put to work. “Sometimes indeed, we sold slaves to them, but they were only prisoners of war, or such among us as had been convicted of kidnapping or adultery, and some other crimes, which we esteemed heinous.” (38)

Equiano’s fortune landed him in the hands of a wealthy widow who purchased him from the traders who had kidnapped him. He lived the life as a companion to the widow and her son. Luck was on his side in this transaction, many slave owners frowned upon educating and assisting slaves. “Masters” typically feared an educated slave would take measures to make a change. He explains, though, how he held status above other slave under the widow’s ownership, “There were likewise slaves daily to attend us, while my young master and I,...

... middle of paper ...

...arn nearly enough money to do such a thing. But Equiano developed skills that allowed him to hustle the system and became a free man.

With new found freedom, he set forth to apply it where he could, as an activist. “From that period, to the present time, my life has passed in an even tenor, and a great part of my study and attention has been to assist in the cause of much injured countrymen.” (191) Equiano became active by promoting and petitioning slavery and dedicated his life to the freedom of his enslaved people.

Racial adversity has proven very difficult to overcome, even in today’s society. Olaudah Equiano used his economic intelligence to provide him with the power to accumulate wealth and buy his freedom. Equiano knew he was dealt an uneasy hand of cards at life, but he played them as skillfully and intelligently as he could, with bare instincts. He took advantage of the situations that he was forced into and was able to win his hand at the game of slavery, for he found a way to manipulate the system that opposed him, and used it to his advantage.

Works cited

The Interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano: written by Himself

Show More
Related

  • Olaudah Equiano Thesis

    634 Words  | 2 Pages

    The North American Slave Trade began when slave traders started to kidnap people of all ages from West Africa. They were forced to endure unspeakable horrors on their trek across the Atlantic as well as when they were finally sold into slavery in the Americas. Olaudah Equiano was one of the few Africans to document his experience on paper, and have his two volume autobiography published. The journey Olaudah suffers through showed the horrors of the trip across the atlantic, but also showed how what he thought and felt about the process as well.

    Read More

  • Slavery John Barabot Summary

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are few things as brutal as the history of the institution of slavery. In his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, the aforementioned Olaudah Equiano describes the experience of his entrance into slavery.

    Read More

  • Freedom: To the African American Slave

    1102 Words  | 3 Pages

    Olaudah Equiano was not an American born slave. He was born and raised well into his childhood in Africa with his family. His slave narrative, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustav Vassa, the African, published in New York in 1791 however, had a lasting impact on America as it described the inhumane treatment of Africans being sold into slavery (Baym 1: 687). Equiano’s initial concept of freedom stemmed from his childhood of which he speaks very fondly, describing his homeland as a “nation of dancers, musicians and poets,” a...

    Read More

  • Equiano Dbq

    881 Words  | 2 Pages

    Document One The Journey to Slavery is about the life of Olaudah Equiano. Equiano was born in what is now Nigeria in 1745. At the age of 11 Equiano and his younger sister were taken from their home, drug though the woods, sold, and was then separated from one another. Equiano’s experience was considered very rare. Throughout his life as a slave he had three different owners. Equiano went from one master to the other till he ended up in a pleasant country in the hands of a leader with children and two wives. He describes how his owners treated him like he was part of the family. They spoke he same

    Read More

  • Olaudah Equiano Rhetorical Analysis

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    The fight for racial equality is one of the most prominent issues Americans have faced throughout history and even today; as the idea that enslaving individuals is unethical emerged, many great and innovative authors began writing about the issues that enslaved people had to face. Olaudah Equiano was no exception. In his work The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, he attempts to persuade his readers that the American way of slavery is brutal, inhumane, and unscrupulous. Equiano manages to do this by minimizing the apparent differences between himself and his primarily white audience, mentioning the cruelties that he and many other slaves had to face, and the advantages of treating your slaves correctly.

    Read More

  • Essay On Olaudah Equiano

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    Olaudah Equiano was a freed slave living in London who made it his life person to abolish the British slave trade. His knowledge and training of the English language allowed him to grow into one of the key figures in the movement to abolish the slave trade in England. Although many scholars acknowledge his incredible talent, there has been evidence in the recent years that may question his reliability as a first-hand account. There is evidence to support that Equiano may have been born in South Carolina. This evidence does not make him a valid source of information about the slave trade and leads his audience to question his statements.

    Read More

  • Social Isolation In The Interesting Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano

    1282 Words  | 3 Pages

    Olaudah Equiano in his Interesting Narrative is taken from his African home and thrown into a Western world completely foreign to him. Equiano is a slave for a total of ten years and endeavors to take on certain traits and customs of Western thinking. He takes great pains to improve himself, learn religion, and adopt Western mercantilism. However, Equiano holds on to a great deal of his African heritage. Throughout the narrative, the author keeps his African innocence and purity of intent; two qualities he finds sorely lacking in the Europeans. This compromise leaves him in a volatile middle ground between his adapted West and his native Africa. Olaudah Equiano takes on Western ideals while keeping several of his African values; this makes him a man associated with two cultures but a member of neither.

    Read More

  • Dance In Olaudah Equiano

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story of Olaudah Equiano and his people went through a lot throughout the time of the 18th Century. Africans faced, “the part of Africa, known by the name of Guinea, to which the trade for slaves is carried on, extends along the coast above 3400 miles, from the Senegal to Angola, and includes a variety of kingdoms.” This is where it first started the business of slavery and selling and buying slaves for them to work for their owners. During this time men and women had to face different types of punishment from adultery and other types of reasons to put them to death, execution, but if the woman had a baby they were often spared to stay with their child. African’s displayed there different types of traditions through weddings, friends, public

    Read More

  • The Injustice Upon African Americans Slaves

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    Slavery was a practice throughout the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries, and through slavery, African-American slaves helped build the economic foundation of which America stands upon today, but this development only occurred with the sacrifice of the blood, sweat, and tears from the slaves that had been pushed into exhaustion by the slave masters. A narrative noting a lifetime of this history was the book The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African written by Olaudah Equiano. Equiano was a prominent African involved in the British movement for the abolition of the slave trade. He was captured and enslaved as a child in his home town of Essaka in what is now known as south eastern Nigeria, later he was shipped to the West Indies, he then moved to England, and eventually purchased his freedom (Equiano). Olaudah Equiano, with many other millions of slaves, faced many hardships and was treated with inconceivable injustices by white slave masters and because of the severity of these cruel and barbarous occurrences, history will never forget these events.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Arguements in The Life of Olaudah Equiano

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    "The Life of Olaudah Equiano” is a captivating story in which Equiano, the author, reflects on his life from becoming a slave to a freeman during the 19th century. Through his experiences and writing, Equiano paints a vivid picture of the atrocities and cruelties of European slavery. Ultimately through his narrative, Equiano intends to persuade his audience, the British government, to abolish the Atlantic slave trade as well as alert them of the harsh treatment of slaves. He successfully accomplishes his goal by subtly making arguments through the use of character, action, and setting.

    Read More

  • Essay On Olaudah Equiano

    541 Words  | 2 Pages

    Olaudah Equiano, a Journalist, an activist. He was everything from a slave to an entrepreneur, but we still are not sure where he came from or even how old he truly was. But one thing that is more than evident, he was a self-made man who gained worldwide notoriety on a noble cause to bring attention to abolish slavery. When writing, Equiano’s Travel’s: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa the African, he, for the first time, through the narrative brought to everyone’s attention the appalling situations that slaves were facing. Where the validity in some of the Narrative is in question, there is no question in the result of the extensive work Olaudah did to bring attention to the travesty that resulted from slavery.

    Read More

  • Olaudah Equiano Ethos

    868 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the life of Olaudah Equiano, being captured at a young age has affected him emotionally, for he states “[at] the age of eleven...an end was put to my happiness” (pg. 690). Like any other child, he feels scared and overwhelmed, for he has lost his family. He will not have a taste of freedom again, unless he fights for it. In this case, it may be intimidating to do so for he is young and unexperienced. Moreover, slaves do not have a voice, so their pain meant nothing to superior men (which makes slaves less human). One day, Equiano was lucky enough to have found his sister, and to have been allowed to work together for the same slave owner (pg. 693). Being by her side was a relief from pain, he was no longer depressed nor did he felt lonely. After Equiano found his sister, he gained hope that someday all this physical and mental pain about the slave trade will be over. Perhaps, there was a slim chance of reuniting with their whole family if they had planned to escape together. Nonetheless, they are now “torn

    Read More

  • The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano

    1532 Words  | 4 Pages

    The novel The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano exists as an extremely important work in the abolitionist movement in England. As an 18th century narrative written by a former black slave, the novel provides a glimpse into the lives of the African slaves involved in the slave trade as well as the slave traders themselves. Even with the controversy over the authenticity of Equiano’s claims on his origin in Africa and his subsequent voyage through the Middle Passage, this novel serves as a powerfully instructive piece of literature. Throughout the novel, Equiano strives to impress upon the reader a certain set of moral standards or ideals that he desires to instruct the reader about. One such moral ideal that is prevalent throughout the entirety of the novel is Equiano’s construction of the idea of the value and worth of the African slaves, as opposed to the view of the African slaves as simply commodities or objects to be purchased and traded.

    Read More

  • The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano

    1336 Words  | 3 Pages

    Equiano finally gains his liberty and begins to develop his character as he converts his religion and becomes a faithful man. Equiano immerses himself and is allowed to blend into Western society. Works Cited Equiano, Olaudah. [1789] 1987. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African.

    Read More

  • Reflection In The Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano

    1889 Words  | 4 Pages

    Slavery is a milestone of history that inflicts emotions and various opinions about what may or may not have occurred. There are many accounts of what took place during slavery, but very few primary sources exist that provide the exact events of what took place. In The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Equiano gives his testimony including his emotions and everything he endured as he overcame slavery. Equiano introduces his childhood and life in chapter one very fluently to make the reader want to continue reading. In chapter one I admired how precisely he describes his place of birth by going into great detail of the division of Africa.

    Read More

More about Olaudah Equiano

Open Document