What was Equiano religion?
Equiano was baptized a Christian in London at St. Margaret’s Church in 1759. In his Narrative, he explains that a female relation of his master often told him that he could not go to Heaven unless he was Baptized. He asked this woman, Miss Guerin, to have him baptized, and she convinced his master to do so.
Where did Equiano travel once he had his freedom?
the West Indies
Under this master, who owned Equiano for the next seven years, Equiano would move to England, educate himself, and travel the world on ships under Pascal’s command. In 1766, Equiano bought his freedom. He found work in the trade business in the West Indies, then in London.
What does Equiano fear will happen to him when he is taken aboard the ship?
What does Equiano fear will happen to him when he is taken aboard the ship? He fears the white man will kill and eat him.
What is Equiano’s central message?
Civilization and Barbarism. A major theme in Equiano’s text is the contrast between civilization and barbarism. In large part he is arguing against prevailing attitudes that Africans, especially enslaved Africans, are uncivilized and barbaric compared to Europeans.
How did Equiano gain his freedom?
Pascal then sold Equiano to a ship captain in London, who took him to Montserrat, where he was sold to the prominent merchant Robert King. While working as a deckhand, valet and barber for King, Equiano earned money by trading on the side. In only three years, he made enough money to buy his own freedom.
Who was Equiano’s intended audience?
I emphasize the fact that Equiano’s reading audience was mostly composed of American and European abolitionists. His immediate purpose was to influence the British political leaders who were debating the slave trade issue in Parliament in the late 1780s.
How did Equiano get his freedom?
What did Equiano do after he was freed?
He received some education and changed hands twice more before he bought his own freedom in 1766. After he settled in England, he became an active abolitionist, agitating and lecturing against the cruelty of British slave owners in Jamaica.
What were Equiano’s fears?
Olaudah Equiano vividly recounts the shock and isolation that he felt during the Middle Passage to Barbados and his fear that the European slavers would eat him.
What does freedom mean to Equiano?
Even after Equiano does attain his freedom—by paying for it himself—his status as a black man means that he’s always in danger of being recaptured and re-enslaved.
Who is Equiano’s audience for his story and why?
Why did Equiano travel back to England?
While loading a ship in Georgia, he was almost kidnapped back into slavery. Equiano returned to Britain, where slavery was much more limited. In England, he received his wages from the Navy, but not from Pascal. He worked for a while as a hairdresser but the pay was not adequate, so he returned to working at sea.
How did Olaudah Equiano escape slavery?
According to his own account, Equiano was kidnapped at age 11 and taken to the West Indies. From there he went to Virginia, where he was purchased by a sea captain, Michael Henry Pascal, with whom he traveled widely. He received some education and changed hands twice more before he bought his own freedom in 1766.
How was Equiano persuasive?
Equiano uses character, setting, and action to further his points of persuasion. He skillfully paints his argument to the British government in terms and events that they will understand and appreciate. Each part of the narrative is designed to elicit a specific reaction and make an overall persuasive point.
How did Equiano help abolish slavery?
It is one of the earliest books published by a black African writer and helped influence British parliament to abolish the trade through the Slave Trade Act of 1807. Equiano used his experiences of slavery to campaign and persuade others to abolish the inhumane trade in African people.
How does Equiano achieve his freedom?
How does Olaudah demonstrate his intelligence during his journey?
How does Olaudah demonstrate his intelligence during his journey? He learns two or three new languages along the way.
Why is Equiano’s story important?
A: Well, for people in Africa, Equiano’s narrative is very important because it is the anchor of African studies. In every discipline, you study Equiano. Historians begin with Equiano. Social scientists begin with Equiano.