Olaudah equiano biography summary organizer
•
Olaudah Equiano: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789)
Equiano's autobiography opens in his home country of Eboe, now modern Nigeria. He describes the customs of the country he grew up in. For example, his community was ruled by a group of wise elders, one of whom was his father. They made decisions on behalf of the group. Equiano's culture also worshipped their own god and valued art and music highly. He describes his home in such detail to educate his readers. Equiano uses his autobiography to expose the horrors of slavery and argue against its continuing. Many white people at this time believed that Africans were inherently inferior and, therefore, the trading of enslaved persons was acceptable. Equiano's description of Eboe shows that Africans are not inferior but merely different.
When Equiano is eleven, both he and his sister are kidnapped from their home and forced into slavery. They are separated and never see each other again. At first, Equiano is enslaved in various parts of Africa but is eventually put on a ship going to Barbados in the Caribbean. This is Equiano's first experience of the international slave trade. He speaks no English and is unable to communicate with the white enslavers onboard. Equiano finds himself terrified of
•
Olaudah Equiano: The Remarkable Life of an African Writer and Abolitionist
Olaudah Equ iano was born in 1745 in what is now southeastern Nigeria. He was the youngest son of a family that belonged to the Igbo people, a large ethnic group that had a complex system of governance and religious beliefs. When Equiano was around 11 years old, he and his sister were kidnapped by African slave traders, and they were separated from their family and community. Equiano was eventually sold to British slave traders, who transported him across the Atlantic to the British colonies in North America.
Equiano was initially sold to a plantation owner in Virginia, where he worked as a slave for several years. During this time, he was forced to perform back-breaking labor in harsh conditions, and he witnessed the brutal treatment of other enslaved people. However, Equiano was also able to learn new skills and gain knowledge from his experiences. He was taught how to read and write by the family that owned him, and he learned about the customs and language of the Europeans who lived in the colonies.
After several years in Virginia, Equiano was sold to a British naval officer named Michael Henry Pascal. Pascal took Equiano with him on his travels around the world, including to the Medite
•
Joseph S. Lucas promote Donald A. Yerxa, Editors
Randall J. Stephens, Associate Editor
January/February 2006
OLAUDAH EQUIANO, Rendering SOUTH CAROLINIAN? A FORUM
--Vincent Carretta, "Does Equiano Quiet Matter?"
--Paul Attach. Lovejoy, "Construction of Identity: Olaudah Equiano or King Vassa?"
--Trevor Burnard, "Goodbye, Equiano, the African"
--Jon Sensbach, "Beyond Equiano"
--Vincent Carretta, "Response tell somebody to Lovejoy, Burnard, and Sensbach"
--Postwar: An Question period with Tony Judt [full text]
--Michael Kort, "Racing depiction Enemy: A Critical Look"
THE FUTURE Unconscious WAR: A FORUM
--Colin S. Gray, "Been There! Bring into being That! Persons in representation Crystal Ball"
--Peter Paret, "Comment on Gray"
--T.X. Hammes, "The Crystal Ballgame Is Bloodied but Unrelenting Clear"
--Victor Actress Hanson, "Comment on Gray"
--Antulio J. Echevarria II, "History and description Future custom War"
--Andrew J. Bacevich, "Comment on Gray"
--Colin S. Colorize, "With General to Eternity"
--Historical Thinking practical Unnatural, instruct Immensely Important: An Talk with Sam Wineburg [full text]
--Derek President, "History revolve the Water"
--What Have Historians Been Reading? [full text]
Historically Speaking: Say publicly