Olaudah Equiano

An ironsmith, ship steward, crewman, cook, clerk, navigator, amateur scientist, and even a hairdresser. These are all jobs that Olaudah Equiano held during his lifetime. He has been called the "most influential African writer in both Africa, America and Britain before the Civil War", and was born in Essaka, Nigeria sometime during 1745 (O'Neale, 153). His family was part of the Ibo tribe, which was located in the North Ika Ibo region of Essaka. In his earliest years, Olaudah Equiano was trained in the art of war. His daily exercises included shooting and throwing javelins. As he states in his autobiography, two men and a woman, who came over the walls while the rest of the family was away, abducted Olaudah and his sister in 1756 (Equiano, 356). He was only eleven years old. The two of them would only be reunited when Equiano was sold a second time. They did not remain together that long because he would be sold again.

Olaudah Equiano would eventually be sold to a man by the name of Michael Henry Pascal, an officer of the British Royal Navy, who set sail for the American continent. Michael Pascal renamed him Gustavus Vassa. In the years that followed, Olaudah became a great seaman and sailed around the world. His stops included the slave-trading islands of the West Indies, England, Ireland, Wales, France, Portugal, Italy, Central America, Georgia, Virginia, Philadelphia and New England. It seemed that he traveled everywhere except to where he really wanted to go, which was Africa. It was during these years that he learned the English language and values from a seaman by the name of Richard Baker.

By 1759 Equiano had become fully articulate in the English language. He fought for the British during the seven-year war against France. Even though he had earned his freedom by fighting in the war, Pascal would not grant Equiano his freedom. Instead he confiscated all of Equiano's books and sold him to the captain of a slave ship in 1763. His new owner, Robert King, would eventually sell Equiano his freedom in 1766 for 70 pounds. Robert King asked Equiano to remain as his employee and Equiano did. This led him to Georgia where he was almost captured and resold into slavery. It was also during this time that Equiano got rid of the name Gustavus Vassa.

In 1768, Equiano returned to London, England and began an apprenticeship to a hairdresser. It was als...

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...ng to drop them in. He came to an understanding that God is not just the God of Judgment, but also more importantly the God of grace and mercy. He believed in the "invisible hand of God, which guided and protected" him. This attitude helped Equiano View the unconverted people of the world in a very awful state, being without God and without hope. Strangely Equiano believed that God dies for us all on the cross. This helped Equiano believe that temporary earthly slavery and spiritual salvation were better than a life of earthly freedom but spiritual death. (Equiano, 1049) Equiano never turned his back on his culture he simply adapted to survive in it.

WORKS CITED

Equiano, Olaudah. "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself". The Norton Anthology: American Literature. New York: Norton & Co., 1995. 356-358.

Murphy, Francis. The Norton Anthology: American Literature. New York: Norton & Co.,

1995. 354-355.

O'Neale, Sondra. Dictionary of Literary Biography: Olaudah Equiano (Gustavus Vassa).

Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1985. Volume 37, 153-157.