Olaudah Equiano Popular Books
Olaudah Equiano Biography & Facts
Olaudah Equiano (; c. 1745 – 31 March 1797), known for most of his life as Gustavus Vassa (), was a writer and abolitionist. According to his memoir, he was from the village of Essaka in modern southern Nigeria. Enslaved as a child in West Africa, he was shipped to the Caribbean and sold to a Royal Navy officer. He was sold twice more before purchasing his freedom in 1766. As a freedman in London, Equiano supported the British abolitionist movement, in the 1780s becoming one of its leading figures. Equiano was part of the abolitionist group the Sons of Africa, whose members were Africans living in Britain. His 1789 autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, sold so well that nine editions were published during his life and helped secure passage of the British Slave Trade Act 1807, which abolished the slave trade. The Interesting Narrative gained renewed popularity among scholars in the late 20th century and remains a useful primary source. Early life and enslavement According to his memoir, Equiano was born around 1745 in the Igbo village of Essaka in what is now southern Nigeria. He claimed his home was in the Kingdom of Benin, but this was likely a geographical error.Equiano recounted an incident of an attempted kidnapping of children in his Igbo village, which was foiled by adults. When he was around the age of eleven, he and his sister were left alone to look after their family premises, as was common when adults went out of the house to work. They were kidnapped and taken far from their home, separated and sold to slave traders. He tried to escape but was thwarted. After his owners changed several times, Equiano happened to meet with his sister but they were separated again. Six or seven months after he had been kidnapped, he arrived at the coast where he was taken on board a European slave ship. He was transported with 244 other enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to Barbados in the British West Indies. He and a few other slaves were sent on for sale in the Colony of Virginia. Literary scholar Vincent Carretta argued in his 2005 biography of Equiano that the activist could have been born in colonial South Carolina rather than Africa, based on a 1759 parish baptismal record that lists Equiano's place of birth as Carolina and a 1773 ship's muster that indicates South Carolina. Carretta's conclusion is disputed by other scholars who believe the weight of evidence supports Equiano's account of coming from Africa.In Virginia, Equiano was bought by Michael Henry Pascal, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Pascal renamed the boy "Gustavus Vassa", after the 16th-century King of Sweden Gustav Vasa who began the Protestant Reformation in Sweden. Equiano had already been renamed twice: he was called Michael while on board the slave ship that brought him to the Americas, and Jacob by his first owner. This time, Equiano refused and told his new owner that he would prefer to be called Jacob. His refusal, he says, "gained me many a cuff" and eventually he submitted to the new name.: 62 He used this name for the rest of his life, including on all official records; he only used Equiano in his autobiography.Pascal took Equiano with him when he returned to England and had him accompany him as a valet during the Seven Years' War with France (1756–1763). Equiano gives witness reports of the Siege of Louisbourg (1758), the Battle of Lagos (1759) and the Capture of Belle Île (1761). Also trained in seamanship, Equiano was expected to assist the ship's crew in times of battle; his duty was to haul gunpowder to the gun decks. Pascal favoured Equiano and sent him to his sister-in-law in Great Britain so that he could attend school and learn to read and write. Equiano converted to Christianity and was baptised at St Margaret's, Westminster, on 9 February 1759, when he was described in the parish register as "a Black, born in Carolina, 12 years old". His godparents were Mary Guerin and her brother, Maynard, who were cousins of his master Pascal. They had taken an interest in him and helped him to learn English. Later, when Equiano's origins were questioned after his book was published, the Guerins testified to his lack of English when he first came to London.In December 1762, Pascal sold Equiano to Captain James Doran of the Charming Sally at Gravesend, from where he was transported back to the Caribbean, to Montserrat, in the Leeward Islands. There, he was sold to Robert King, an American Quaker merchant from Philadelphia who traded in the Caribbean. Release Robert King set Equiano to work on his shipping routes and in his stores. In 1765, when Equiano was about 20 years old, King promised that for his purchase price of 40 pounds (equivalent to £5,800 in 2021) he could buy his freedom. King taught him to read and write more fluently, guided him along the path of religion, and allowed Equiano to engage in profitable trading for his own account, as well as on his owner's behalf. Equiano sold fruits, glass tumblers and other items between Georgia and the Caribbean islands. King allowed Equiano to buy his freedom, which he achieved in 1766. The merchant urged Equiano to stay on as a business partner. However, Equiano found it dangerous and limiting to remain in the British colonies as a freedman. While loading a ship in Georgia, he was almost kidnapped back into enslavement. Freedom By about 1768, Equiano had gone to Britain. He continued to work at sea, travelling sometimes as a deckhand based in England. In 1773 on the Royal Navy ship HMS Racehorse, he travelled to the Arctic in an expedition towards the North Pole. On that voyage he worked with Dr Charles Irving, who had developed a process to distill seawater and later made a fortune from it. Two years later, Irving recruited Equiano for a project on the Mosquito Coast in Central America, where he was to use his African background to help select slaves and manage them as labourers on sugar-cane plantations. Irving and Equiano had a working relationship and friendship for more than a decade, but the plantation venture failed. Equiano met with George, the "Musquito king's son". Equiano left the Mosquito Coast in 1776 and arrived at Plymouth, England, on 7 January 1777. Pioneer of the abolitionist cause Equiano settled in London, where in the 1780s he became involved in the abolitionist movement. The movement to end the slave trade had been particularly strong among Quakers, but the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade was founded in 1787 as a non-denominational group, with Anglican members, in an attempt to influence parliament directly. Under the Test Act, only those prepared to receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper according to the rites of the Church of England were permitted to serve as MPs. Equiano had been influenced by George Whitefield's evangelism. As early as 1783, Equiano informed abolitionists such as Granville Sharp about the slave trade; that year he was the firs.... Discover the Olaudah Equiano popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Olaudah Equiano books.
Best Seller Olaudah Equiano Books of 2024
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The Kidnapped Prince
Ann CameronKidnapped at the age of 11 from his home in Benin, Africa, Olaudah Equiano spent the next 11 years as a slave in England, the U.S., and the West Indies, until he was able to buy hi...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah EquianoSkyros Publishing is dedicated to reproducing the finest books ever written and letting readers of all ages experience a classic for the first time or revisit a past favorite. Olau...
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The Penguin Book of Migration Literature
Dohra Ahmad[Ahmad's] "introduction is fiery and charismatic... This book encompasses the diversity of experience, with beautiful variations and stories that bicker back and forth." Parul Sehg...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano,
Olaudah EquianoThe Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, first published in 1789 in London, is the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano. The narrative ...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African
Olaudah EquianoThe Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, first published in 1789, is the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano. The book describes Equia...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano, Shelly Eversley & Robert Reid-PharrEdited and with Notes by Shelly EversleyIntroduction by Robert ReidPharrIn this truly astonishing eighteenthcentury memoir, Olaudah Equiano recounts his remarkable life story, whic...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African
Olaudah EquianoOlaudah Equiano was one of the most prominent people of African heritage involved in the British debate for the abolition of the slave trade. He wrote an autobiography that depicte...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African Written By Himself
Olaudah EquianoSlave narratives are powerful indictments of the horrors of slavery and oppression, invaluable not only for the stories they tell but also for the consistently high quality of thei...
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The Life of Olaudah Equiano
Equiano, OlaudahNigerian Olaudah Equiano was kidnapped as a child and sold into slavery. With the help of his master, Robert King, he was able to purchase his freedom by his early twenties. King t...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah EquianoThe Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano was a key work of nineteenthcentury slave narrative autobiography. Written and published by Equiano, a former slave, it bec...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African
Olaudah EquianoThe Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African was written in the year 1789 by Olaudah Equiano. This book is one of the most popular novel...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah EquianoIn the mid 1700s, around the age of eleven, Olaudah Equiano and his sister were kidnapped from their village in equatorial Africa and sold to slavers. Within a year he was aboard a...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah EquianoA remarkable account of early slavery and later freedom, “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” is the 1789 autobiography of former slave Olaudah Equiano. His l...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa.
Olaudah EquianoI believe it is difficult for those who publish their own memoirs to escape the imputation of vanity; nor is this the only disadvantage under which they labour: it is also their mi...
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The Life Story of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah EquianoThis eBook edition of "The Life Story of Olaudah Equiano" has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. "The Life of ...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah EquianoHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of bestloved, essential classics.
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African Written By Himself
Olaudah EquianoThe Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African Written By Himself first published in 1789 in London, is the autobiography of Olaudah ...
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Annotated The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano Or Gustavus Vassa, The African with English Grammar Exercises
Olaudah EquianoThe Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano Or Gustavus Vassa, The African (Annotated) to help you with grammar.
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah EquianoThe Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, written in 1789, details its writer's life in slavery, his time spent serving on galleys, the eventual attainment of h...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano Written by Himself.
Olaudah EquianoOlaudah Equiano's narrative is about his own experience away from his dear home. The slave trade from the very beginning was one of the worst components of European history. This n...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah EquianoA remarkable account of early slavery and later freedom, "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano" is the 1789 autobiography of former slave Olaudah Equian...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano,
Olaudah EquianoWidely admired for its vivid accounts of the slave trade, Olaudah Equiano's autobiography the first slave narrative to attract a significant readership reveals many aspects of the ...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah EquianoOlaudah Equiano was one of the most prominent people of African heritage involved in the British debate for the abolition of the slave trade. He wrote an autobiography that depicte...
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The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings
Olaudah Equiano & Vincent CarrettaCompletely revised and edited with an introduction and notes by Vincent CarrettaAn exciting and often terrifying adventure story, as well as an important precursor to such famous n...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah EquianoWidely admired for its vivid accounts of the slave trade, Olaudah Equiano's autobiography the first slave narrative to attract a significant readership reveals many aspects of th...
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The Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah EquianoA remarkable account of early slavery and later freedom,The Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, Written By Himself, is the 1789 autobiography of former slave O...
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The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah EquianoDISCOVER THE INDIGNITIES AND REALITIES OF SLAVERY FROM A CAPTIVATING FIRSTHAND NARRATIVEOlaudah Equiano’s interesting narrative is an astonishing firsthand account of kidnapping, e...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African by Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano"The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African" is a significant autobiographical work written by Olaudah Equiano, a former enslaved Afri...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African
Olaudah EquianoWith centuries of literature, it's inevitable that some will fall through the cracks. We hunt down public domain works and restore them so they're not lost to the world. Who are...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano & David OlusogaEquiano's narrative is the most significant autobiographical account of slavery to emerge from Britain's centuries as a slave trading and slave owning power. It remains as powerful...
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The Penguin History of the United States of America
Hugh BroganThis new edition of Brogan's superb onevolume history from early British colonisation to the Reagan years captures an array of dynamic personalities and events. In a broad sweep...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Oloudah EquianoThe Interesting Narrative (1789) is the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano. It was the first slave autobiography and one of the earliest publication by an African. Equiano describes ...
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The History of Mary Prince
Mary Prince & Sara SalihThe History of Mary Prince (1831) was the first narrative of a black woman to be published in Britain. It describes Prince's sufferings as a slave in Bermuda, Turks Island and Anti...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. Illustrated
Olaudah EquianoThe Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, first published in 1789 in London, is the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano. The narrative ...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah EquianoOlaudah Equiano was an influential African advocate of abolishing the slave trade in Britain during the late 18th century. This is his memoir.
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Interesting Narrative of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano Or Gustavus Vassa, Th
Olaudah EquianoIn The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, former slave Olaudah Equiano tells the story of his life, from the time he and his sister were kidnapped and enslaved, ...
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The Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah EquianoSlave narratives are powerful indictments of the horrors of slavery and oppression, invaluable not only for the stories they tell but also for the consistently high quality of thei...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African
Olaudah EquianoThis the only disadvantage under which they labour: it is also their misfortune, that what is uncommon is rarely, if ever, believed, and what is obvious we are apt to turn from wit...
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London Journal 1762-1763
James Boswell & Gordon TurnbullEdinburghborn James Boswell, at twentytwo, kept a daily diary of his eventful second stay in London from 1762 to 1763. This journal, not discovered for more than 150 years, is a de...
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The Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah EquianoHe was born, he tells us in his Interesting Narrative of his life, in Essaka, a small village in what is today eastern Nigeria that was ruled by the powerful eighteenth century Kin...
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African
EquianoA seminal work that provides an important window into the experience of one individual in the context of the transatlantic slave trade. Situating his life within this broader narra...