Equiano's Travels
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The most famous slave memoir of the 18th century. Equiano's Travels recounts the extraordinary life and times of Olaudah Equiano, from his early life in Africa to his struggle for freedom in the West Indies.
'I who had been a slave in the morning, trembling at the will of another, was become my own master, and completely free.'
Olaudah Equiano was only eleven when he was kidnapped from the Kingdom of Benin. His report on the horrors that followed whilst imprisoned on slave ships and on land offers a rare and significant insight into the realities of the transatlantic slave trade.
First published in London in 1789, Equiano's memoirs were an instant success and paved the way for the abolition of slavery in the British Empire.
Abridged and edited by Paul Edwards.
'A powerful and terrifying read.' Guardian
'Central to our understanding of Atlantic slavery.' The Times
'A gripping account from 1789 of life as a slave.' New York Times
Olaudah Equiano
Born in Nigeria in 1745, Olaudah Equiano was a well-known African abolitionist. Equiano was shipped to the West Indies as a child-slave, and then to England where he was purchased by Lieutenant Michael Pascal and trained as a seaman before serving in The Seven Years’ War. At the conclusion of hostilities, Pascal did not free Equiano as promised, but instead sold him to Captain James Doran who then sold Equiano to James King, a merchant from Philadelphia. In 1765, King let Equiano purchase his freedom for forty pounds, and helped him earn money in his stead as a merchant. Now a free man, Equiano returned to London where he made significant contributions to the abolitionist movement, and published his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, which influenced the Slave Trade Act of 1807. Equiano is believed to have died in 1797 at the age of 52.
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