Olaudah Equiano's Influence
The Influence and Career of Olaudah Equiano There have been many authors throughout history who have impacted America, amongst them is Olaudah Equiano. Olaudah Equiano, a slave who wrote about his terrible experiences, not only changed America, but changed the world. Equiano 's life and career were divided in two parts: his life as a slave and his life as a free man. He battled the slave ships and helped abolish the slave institutions with the power and depth of his writings. Equiano 's most powerful piece of literature was The Interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano because of its devastating impact on the slave trade. Olaudah traveled from country to country selling his book and promoting the anti-slave movement. He also wrote many letters and other documents trying to help direct people to understand the truth of slavery. This man truly taught the world to move against slavery and the brutality that came with it. Equiano 's influence was profond during his life, but after he died his book and memory lived on, helping bring the end of slavery. Equiano 's life was evermore changed when a group of raiders attacked his home, kidnapped him, and sold him into slavery. His world was sent into a dark and painful hole of despair as he was transferred across the oceans on a slave ship. In his Narrative he exclaimed, “The heat and climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us.” (Equiano, Olaudah.) These terrible memories and experiences gave him the means to call upon good men to stop the corrupt ways of slavery in both the old and new world. After being sold in America, Olaudah was pushed from one owner to another. He was eventually passed to his last owner, Robert King who was a Quaker merchant. After 20 years of hard toil, Robert King gave money to Equiano allowing him to earn his freedom. Once he was free, he traveled the new world adding to his collection of
Cited: Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself. London: Printed For, and Sold by the Author; & G.G.J. & J. Robinson; and by Charles Stalker, 1793. Print. Horton, James O., and Lois E. Horton. "The African Roots of Colonial America." Slavery and the Making of America. N.p.: Oxford UP, 2005. N. pag. SIRS Researcher. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. . Olaudah Equiano (c.1745-1797): The Former Slave, Seaman & Writer: The Abolition of Slavery Project." Olaudah Equiano (c.1745-1797): The Former Slave, Seaman & Writer: The Abolition of Slavery Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. . Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797)." Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797). N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797)." Olaudah Equiano. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. Olaudah Equiano "World Book Online Reference Center | Online Reference Book| Online Encyclopedia." World Book. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. .