Olaudah Equiano

@Anti Slavery Activist, Timeline and Life

Olaudah Equiano was a prominent Black activist who worked hard to put an end to slave trade in Britain and its colonies

1745

African American AuthorsAfrican American SlavesActivists
Biography

Personal Details

  • Birthday: 1745
  • Died on: March 31, 17971745
  • Nationality: Central African
  • Famous: Anti Slavery Activist, African American Authors, African American Slaves, Activists
  • Spouses: Susannah Cullen
  • Childrens: Joanna Vassa
  • Birth Place: Igboland

Olaudah Equiano born at

Igboland

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Birth Place

Olaudah Equiano married Susannah Cullen on April 7, 1792, in St Andrew's Church in Soham, Cambridgeshire. The couple was blessed with two daughters, Anna Maria and Joanna.

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Personal Life

He breathed his last on March 31, 1797 a year after his wife Susannah Cullen who passed away in February 1796. His eldest daughter, Anna Maria too died in 1797 leaving Joanna as the legitimate heir to Equiano's estate.

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Personal Life

Posthumously, in 1996, The Equiano Society was formed to celebrate the life and work of Olaudah Equiano.

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Personal Life

Olaudah Equiano was born in 1745 in the region now known as Nigeria. He was the youngest of the seven children born to his parents who belonged to the Igbo tribe.

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Childhood & Early Life

At the age of 11, while looking after the family compound, he was kidnaped along with his sister. The two were then taken far from their hometown, separated and sold to the local slave traders.

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Childhood & Early Life

Following a brief period of stay in Africa, Equiano was sold to the European slave traders, who in turn shipped him across the Atlantic to Barbados in the West Indies along with 244 other enslaved Africans. From Barbados, a handful of African slaves including him were sent to the British colony of Virginia.

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Childhood & Early Life

In Virginia, Equiano was bought by Michael Pascal, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Pascal gave Equiano the name of Gustavus Vassa, which stayed with him for the better part of his lifetime.

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Later Life

Domestic slaves in Virginia were treated brutally by their owners. Often iron muzzle was employed to keep the slaves quiet. The state of Equiano was no less.

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Later Life

Equiano accompanied his master to England where he served as a valet in the Seven Years’ War against France. Additionally, Pascal trained him in seamanship so that the latter could assist the ship crew in the times of battle. His duty included hauling gunpowder to the gun decks.

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Later Life

Impressed by Equiano dutiful obedience, Pascal shipped him to his sister-in-law in Great Britain with the intention that young Equiano would be able to attend school and learn to read and write.

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Later Life

Upon reaching Great Britain, Equiano was converted to Christianity. Mary Guerin and her brother, Maynard, cousins of his master Pascal, served as his godparents. In February 1759, he was baptized in St Margaret's, Westminster. Mary and Maynard helped young Equiano learn English.

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Later Life

The highpoint in Equiano’s life came with the publication of his autobiography, ‘The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano’. The first slave narrative, it gave a personal account of Equiano’s enslaved life. The book gave a detailed explanation of the pitiable state of slaves and the inhumaneness faced by them. Widely read, the book went through nine publications in his lifetime and was highly in demand. It played an instrumental role in the passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807 which abolished slave trade legally.

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Major Works