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The Life And Work Of Olaudah Equiano

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Olaudah Equiano was one of Britain’s earliest known African authors. He was a prominent historical figure who through writing about his experiences as a slave prompted him to become involved in the British abolition movement. His descriptive writings had a momentous effect on the perception of the slave trade and slavery, from that of an African slave. Recently, there have been many questions about his biographical record on whether he was born in Africa or in America. Yet, Equiano’s birthplace should not have any substantial impact on the credibility, viability or dependability as a source on the slave trade and slavery, merely because whether these events happened to him personally or not, it did happen to millions of other African slaves. …show more content…

At the young and tender age of 11, he was kidnapped by local slave traders and was then sold into slavery. In his biography, he talks about being brought from Africa aboard a ship, transported across the middle passage, and being further sold to slave owners. In the narrative, Equiano describes the horrendous conditions about the slave ship endured by both women and children and even white men. He continues about the physical abuse endured by Africans in slavery and the many atrocities he witnessed as a slave. As Equiano’s work continues to be read and studied by many today, it is often debated whether the details written in his biography are true to his own experience as a slave, greatly overlooking the actual important meaning of his

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