Equiano, the African: Biography of a Self-Made ManThis definitive biography tells the story of the former slave Olaudah Equiano (1745?–1797), who in his day was the English-speaking world’s most renowned person of African descent. Equiano’s greatest legacy is his classic 1789 autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A key document of the early movement to ban the slave trade, as well as the fundamental text in the genre of the African American slave narrative, it includes the earliest known purported firsthand description by an enslaved victim of the horrific Middle Passage from Africa to the Americas. Equiano, the African is filled with fresh revelations about this many-sided figure. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 58
Page
... Once he was free , Equiano judged parts of North America reasonably nice places to visit , but he never revealed any interest in voluntarily living there . By Equiano's account , the amount of time he spent in North America during his ...
... Once he was free , Equiano judged parts of North America reasonably nice places to visit , but he never revealed any interest in voluntarily living there . By Equiano's account , the amount of time he spent in North America during his ...
Page
... once Equiano entered the literate society of the Royal Navy his account of his subsequent life is remarkably consistent with the historical record . Equiano was certainly African by descent . The circumstantial evidence that Equiano was ...
... once Equiano entered the literate society of the Royal Navy his account of his subsequent life is remarkably consistent with the historical record . Equiano was certainly African by descent . The circumstantial evidence that Equiano was ...
Page
... once he was free may have been the result of his quest for an identity and a place in the world . As an " Atlantic creole " Equiano was ideally positioned to construct an identity for himself . He defined himself as much by movement as ...
... once he was free may have been the result of his quest for an identity and a place in the world . As an " Atlantic creole " Equiano was ideally positioned to construct an identity for himself . He defined himself as much by movement as ...
Page 2
... Once the slave - trade debate began in the 1780s , however , new descriptions of Africa and Africans were usually recognizably propagandistic and highly selective in the evidence they presented , with works opposing the trade ...
... Once the slave - trade debate began in the 1780s , however , new descriptions of Africa and Africans were usually recognizably propagandistic and highly selective in the evidence they presented , with works opposing the trade ...
Page 17
... once saved some of his comrades from enslavement by sounding the alarm when he saw from his perch in a tree a man attempt to kidnap them . But soon thereafter , when his unnamed " dear sister " and he " were left to mind the house , two ...
... once saved some of his comrades from enslavement by sounding the alarm when he saw from his perch in a tree a man attempt to kidnap them . But soon thereafter , when his unnamed " dear sister " and he " were left to mind the house , two ...
Contents
1 | |
17 | |
39 | |
Chapter Four Freedom Denied | 71 |
Chapter Five Bearing Witness | 92 |
Chapter Six Freedom of a Sort | 119 |
Chapter Seven Toward the North Pole | 135 |
Chapter Eight Born Again | 161 |
Chapter Ten The Black Poor | 202 |
Chapter Eleven Turning against the Slave Trade | 236 |
Chapter Twelve Making a Life | 270 |
Chapter Thirteen The Art of the Book | 303 |
Chapter Fourteen A SelfMade Man | 330 |
Notes | 369 |
Bibliography | 395 |
Index | 419 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Abolition abolitionist African British African descent America appeared Atlantic autobiography Benezet Bight of Biafra black poor boat Britain British called captain century Christian Church Clarkson coast colonies command crew Cugoano death deck Eboe edition eighteenth eighteenth-century England English enslaved Africans European Farmer freedom French frontispiece George Granville Sharp Guinea Gustavus Vassa History House of Commons human identity Igbo Ignatius Sancho Indian Interesting Narrative Irving island Jamaica James John King land letter London Lord Mansfield master Middle Passage Montserrat Morning Post Mosquito Mosquito Coast muster list naval Negroes never North Norwich Olaudah Equiano owners Pascal passage Phipps Pitt planters Public Advertiser published Quakers Ramsay readers Royal Navy sailed Sancho seamen servant ship Sierra Leone slavery Society sold soon subscribers Thomas thought tion told transatlantic slave trade Vasa vessel voyage West Indies William writing