His Interesting Narrative served as the foremost abolitionist writing of the day because he was an African voice that described the violence and degradation of the slave trade and of slavery itself. This goes back and forth between, as he refers to it frequently, poor usage of himself and awe at the freedoms and advancements of Europe creating a very polarized dual cultural identity. With a front-row seat to their parents failures and burnout, a long line of pastors kids still went into ministry. ", "One of the key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace, good people don't go into government.". One historian has argued that he was actually from South Carolina originally, though others have countered that his detailed account of the trade from Africa to the U.S. makes those origins unlikely. Subscribers were thus taking an interest in this book in the financial sense, publicly advancing resources to support Equiano and the movement that the book was published to support. Carey, Bryan. He had survived these things to be able to finally receive the grace offered to him by Christ. Equiano's Narrative is one of the best primary sources for what slavery was like for both slave and master. Though Equiano gained his freedom in the Caribbean, he was also simultaneously confronted with the reality of the unimaginable violence perpetrated against slaves. May 24, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/equianos-influence-and-narrative/. [10] Equiano, The Interesting Narrative, 160. With the culture shock of being ripped from his home nation of Essaka[9] and thrown onto a ship of slavers who considered him as property to be handled, his first impressions were definitely not pro-European. Equiano was active in these abolitionist circles, and his book in part serves the function of a petition to Parliament to end the slave trade, with the names of the books subscribers identifying themselves as allies and co-petitioners in the cause. Though Equiano desired to return to Africa, he never did. In it Equiano expresses a strong abolitionist stance and provides firsthand testimony of the transatlantic slave trade as well as a detailed description of life in what is present-day Nigeria. They had several children, but only one survived into adulthood. Now that his time was spent on board a ship with Europeans, he began to assimilate into the culture and soon developed a new understanding of himself and his cultural identity. A very readable account that relies heavily on Equianos autobiography, rather than offering new biographical information. Looking back on the incident he ponders the results of his actions due to his faith and what he believed God had sought him to do thus seeing that they were the result of his strong relationship with God; I could not help thinking, that if any of these people had been lost, God would charge me with their lives, which, perhaps, was one cause of my labouring so hard for their preservation.[3] This evolution of character is spurred on by the acceptance and then development of Equianos faith in Christianity which then affects all of his actions as he sees every major moment of life or death as a trial set out for him by God to overcome through his self developed virtues. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1725 titles we cover. Although some of the facts of the story might have been fabricated, the purpose of every point is understandable as they all were targeted towards appealing to the audience. Excerpts from the book now appear in every anthology and on any website covering American, African American, British, and Caribbean history and literature of the 18th century. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Olaudah Equiano's The Life of Olaudah Equiano. Canadian businesswoman and civil libertarian. The Kidnapped Prince: The Life of Olaudah Equiano. Good Names: Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa. The Eighteenth Century, vol. A very few former slaves were positioned to be effective spokespeople . Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. During this wreck, Equiano is the sole reason that no men were lost in this accident. Much of the power of Equianos narrative stems from the fact that it is a first-person testimony of what he has witnessed and experienced, but he also uses his narrative as a means of recording a wide variety of non-personal experiences associated with the slave trade. Equiano wrote, I have seen a negro man staked to the ground, and cut most shockingly another negro man was half hanged and then burnt, bringing the attention of people to the tortures that black people had to endure because of their origin (5). In 1789 he published his autobiography, 'The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African'. Your email address will not be published. Because of its wide influence, Equiano is sometimes regarded as the originator of the slave narrative, although numerous autobiographies in various forms by people formerly enslaved in the United States were published beginning in the mid-18th century. This Christian was a previously enslaved man known as Gustavus Vassa, who, through writing his own life story, became the founder of a literary movement known as slave narratives. This produced copious perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died, thus falling victims to the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of their purchasers. The first autobiography written by a former slave, Olaudah Equiano's The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is also one of the most widely-read and well-regarded of the slave narrative genre. The depiction of these events may be considered crucial to the process of people beginning to understand the cruelty of this concept. In this resolution, Equiano then appreciates the culture of Europe and seeks to imitate and become like those men. Religion may arguably be viewed as one of the . Equiano married a woman named Susannah Cullen in 1792; they had two daughters, only one of whom survived to adulthood. The Interesting Narrative was first printed in the United States in New York in 1791 (without Equianos permission, as was typical for books reprinted from Britain in the early decades of the new republic), and was widely reprinted throughout the first half of the nineteenth century. Thus, the facts of his work should not be treated the same as the facts in textbooks. He travelled widely promoting the book, which became immensely . Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on Required fields are marked *. During his lifetime, he was mostly known as Gustavus Vassa. See pp. Equiano lent his voice and his pen to the cause of suppressing Britains role in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. By stressing that such treatment is ubiquitous, Equiano shows how the very system itself, including the logic of inequality by which it structures society, is flawed. 1-23. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [6] Equiano, The Interesting Narrative, 57. It went through nine editions in his lifetime and helped gain passage of the British Slave Trade Act 1807, which abolished the slave trade. Text transcribed by Apex Data Services, Inc. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Equiano refers to his treatment by European slave traders in the Middle Passage as a new refinement in cruelty and paints a picture of a harrowing journey on board a slave ship. Equiano remained in Barbados for only two weeks before embarking on another voyage to Virginia. Equiano does, though, signal another contradiction in white peoples thinking: that black people are both incompetent and inferior, but also vital to the functioning of plantations, such that the abolition of slavery would lead to economic devastation. His famous autobiography can be considered to be one of the causes of the success of a British movement that wanted to end the slave trade. This wretched situation was again aggravated by the galling of the chains, now become insupportable; and the filth of the necessary tubs, into which the children often fell, and were almost suffocated. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. By the end of the eighteenth century, this triangular trade was thriving, and yet, for the first time, many more people than ever before began to object to slavery as a moral atrocity. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. Whether the love of ones country be real or imaginary, or a lesson of reason, or an instinct of nature, I still look back with pleasure on the first scenes of my life, though the pleasure has been for the most part mingled with sorrow, he wrote. [13] Without his exposure to Christianity early into his service with his first master, Equiano would not be the man we now know him as today; faithful, honest, reputable, and a man with an important story to tell. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Despite his efforts and those of other abolitionists, the man was taken back to the West Indies where he died. Does the subsequent narrative support Equiano's claim to have been compensated? Your email address will not be published. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Equiano exposes once again the contradictions between the moral beliefs that Europeans purport to hold and their treatment of slaves. As one of only a handful of 18th-century Afro-British writers, Equiano makes the countercultural argument that Igbos (and Africans) are equal image-bearers to Europeans, and they live in functioning societies complete with a sexual division of labor, a robust system of justice, and a complex religious system. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. The Apostle Paul and His Times: Christian History Timeline. Get the best from CT editors, delivered straight to your inbox! Eric Michael Washington is an associate professor of history at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan. His writings also compare Igbo and ancient Israelite practices, noting Igbo circumcision, and suggest that Igbo and Jewish naming practices are similar because the two cultures name their children in light of an important event or a notable circumstance surrounding ones birth. for less than $4.25/month. Equiano was able to save enough money to buy his own freedom in 1766. [1] Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings (New York: Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 2003), 78. 15 Facts about Olaudah Equiano | History Hit What is the summary of Olaudah Equiano? The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. In The Interesting Narrative Equiano idealized Africa and showed great pride in the ways of life there, and he attacked those who trafficked in slavery across Africa. Equiano, according to his Narrative, was born into an Igbo community in what is now Nigeria. 2 Why should Olaudah Equiano be remembered? Slavery, as Equianos description of his own African village implies, had existed in some form for thousands of years, but it was the age of exploration that institutionalized a particular kind of slavery, bolstered by a growing set of arguments among Europeans about the ethical and intellectual inferiority of non-white races. They can only justify these actions by considering black people as less than human. [4] Equiano, The Interesting Narrative, 203. It was published in 1789, at a time It is important to note, however, that in the last two decades, scholars have raised doubts about the truth of some parts of Equianos Interesting Narrative. Thus, the implications that one individual lied to influence the process that helped to free many people do not change the seriousness of the issue.