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Olaudah Equiano Impact On Slave Trade

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The Atlantic slave trade was a huge business which had a significant impact in modern world history. For four centuries, its geographical scope encompassed four continents. Over the span of time its impact affected millions of people, and its consequences are still evident in some ways today. One such victim was Olaudah Equiano, who was from in or around what is now Nigeria. At the age of eleven he was kidnapped along with his sister and was sold in the Atlantic slave trade. He later wrote an autobiography on his capture. Although there is some question about his birthplace and birthdate, most historians believe his narrative to be accurate while giving a direct view of his personal experiences as a slave.
This narrative was written to portray the many challenges faced by Equiano as he journeyed through life. The audience of this writing piece was historians. It gave them an accurate account of slave trade during that time. This was evident throughout the narrative. An example was when he mentions “I was soon put down under the decks, and then I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced…” He described a personal rendition of the conditions and treatments he faced on the ship. …show more content…

The author did not show any signs of bias, which in turn could have easily altered the way historians perceived the situations and the events. It was written in first-person, which offers its audience personal experiences throughout the life of Equiano. He began by describing for the readers that his first four families were relatively pleasant, and even mentions that one family member remined him of his own mother. On the other hand, he also discussed the many details surrounding his unpleasant experiences on the boat. At one point within the narrative he said, “I had never seen among any people such instances of brutal cruelty; and this not only shewn towards us blacks, but also to some of the whites

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