Olaudah Equiano was a celebrated author and abolitionist in 18th Century England. His narrative was essential to the abolition movement as it gave a first-hand literary testimony on the capture and enslavement of Africans. The uniqueness of this scholarly account was its ability to capture the imagination of individuals from all levels of English society.
Olaudah was born in Essaka (modern day Nigeria in 1745) He describes life prior to slavery as simple, living in a country where nature is bountiful, and wanting for nothing. Equiano did encounter slaves at the local market, who were with the Oye Eboe (Red men living at a distance, these were the African traders that collaborated with Europeans in selling slaves). These men supplied firearms, gun powder hats, beads and dried fish. They also carried away slaves, who Equiano described as prisoners of war, kidnappers, adulterers, and people who had committed terrible crimes. However, it is important to remember that not all the people who were sent into slavery were criminal. Many were innocent adults and children got swept up in the cruel trade. Equiano and his sister were innocent children. Equiano was the tender age of 11 years old, and his sister was younger when they were both kidnapped and sold into slavery.
Equiano’s vivid description of the middle passage highlights the dehumanisation and animalisation of the enslaved Africans. He offers a unique perspective of the horrific conditions of laying below deck on the slave ship. The narrative unravels emotions associated with the harsh reality of leaving Africa without any hope of returning. Furthermore, the gripping brutality of enslavement. The Atlantic slave trade was a vacuum that took the strongest and fittest African individual to work in harsh conditions. It consumed all levels of African society from royalty to the ordinary local villagers.
In the 1780s Equiano was a resident in London and an active campaigner trying to bring an end to the British Slave trade and slavery. He was a member of the Sons of Africa, where he collaborated with members such as Ottobah Cugoano, who was affiliated with African Royalty before being kidnapped by African enslavers and sold into chattel slavery. The sons of Africa society is considered the first black political organisation. Equiano discussed his experience, barbaric costs, and the realities of slavery through his publications in newspapers and public speaking across Britain. The campaign to end the slave trader was championed by numerous individuals. The religious leaders, parliamentarians, philanthropist collaborated with Equiano to increase public awareness and justice for the enslaved Africans. The Rev Peter Peckard played an active role in sponsoring Equiano book The Interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustava Vassa, the African, first published in 1789.
In 1792 Olaudah Equiano was a converted Methodist who married Susannah Cullen ofEly and settled in Soham, Cambridgeshire. He had two daughters Anna Maria born 1793, Joanna born 1795. Susannah Cullen died in 1796, their oldest daughter Anne Maria died 1797 and Equiano died in London in 1797. Anna Maria and epitaph is situated on the wall outside St Andrews church in Chesterton, Cambridge.
