The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano

by Olaudah Equiano

Overview

Olaudah Equiano was one of the most prominent people of African heritage involved in the British debate for the abolition of the slave trade. He wrote an autobiography that depicted the horrors of slavery and helped influence British lawmakers to abolish the slave trade through the Slave Trade Act of 1807. This is his story.

I hope the reader will not think I have trespassed on his patience in introducing myself to him with some account of the manners and customs of my country. They had been implanted in me with great care, and made an impression on my mind, which time could not erase, and which all the adversity and variety of fortune I have since experienced served only to rivet and record; for, whether the love of one's country be real or imaginary, or a lesson of reason, or an instinct of nature, I still look back with pleasure on the first scenes of my life, though that pleasure has been for the most part mingled with sorrow. -Olaudah Equiano

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781625584717
Publisher:	Start Publishing LLC
Publication date:	12/28/2012
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	182
File size:	286 KB

About the Author

Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797) was a writer and abolitionist of West African descent, specifically Nigerian. His origins have been debated as some sources state his birthplace as South Carolina. Despite the discrepancy, his trying tale of survival during the Transatlantic slave trade is very true to life. Equiano detailed the harrowing experience in his autobiography The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789). It’s an early slave narrative that was used to condemn and expose the horrors of the practice.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Olaudah Equiano: A Brief Chronology
A Note on the Text

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself.

Appendix A: Letters and Reviews

1. Letters and Reviews Added to Later Editions of The Interesting Narrative
2. Reviews of The Interesting Narrative Not Included in Equiano’s Editions
1. The Analytical Review, May 1789
2. The Gentleman’s Magazine, June 1789
3. The Oracle, 25 April, 1792
4. The Star, 27 April, 1792

Appendix B: Writings of the First Abolitionist Movement

1. Anthony Benezet, A Caution to Great Britain and her Colonies (1766)
2. Anthony Benezet, Some Historical Account of Guinea (1771)
3. Edmund Burke, An Account of the European Settlements in America (1758)
4. Thomas Clarkson, An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, Particularly the African (1788)
5. William Cowper,“The Negro’s Complaint” (1788)
6. J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer (1782)
7. Quobna Ottobah Cugoano, Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species (1787)
8. Alexander Falconbridge, An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa (1788)
9. Gilbert Francklyn, An Answer to the Rev. Mr. Clarkson’s Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, particularly the African (1789)
10. Benjamin Franklin, “On the Slave Trade” (1790)
11. James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, A Narrative of the Most Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw (1772)
12. Raymund Harris, Scriptural Researches on the Licitness of the Slave-Trade (1788)
13. David Hume,“Of National Characters” (1753-54)
14. Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (1787)
15. John Marrant, A Narrative of the Lord’s Wonderful Dealings with John Marrant, a Black (1785)
16. John Newton, Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade (1788)
17. Malachy Postlethwayt, Britain’s Commercial Interest Explained and Improved (1757)
18. James Ramsay, An Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies (1784)
19. Benjamin Rush, A Vindication of the Address, to the Inhabitants of the British Settlements, on the Slavery of the Negroes in America (1773)
20. Ignatius Sancho, Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho (1782)
21. Granville Sharp, A Representation of the Injustice and Dangerous Tendency of Tolerating Slavery (1769)
22. James Tobin, Cursory Remarks upon the Reverend Mr. Ramsay’s Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the Sugar Colonies (1785)
23. Gordon Turnbull, An Apology for Negro Slavery (1786)
24. John Wesley, Thoughts upon Slavery (1774)
25. William Wilberforce, The Speech of William Wilberforce … on the Question of the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1789)
26. Helen Maria Williams, “A Poem on the Bill Lately Passed for Regulating the Slave Trade” (1788)
27. Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790)
28. John Woolman, Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes (1754

Select Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

This new edition of Equiano…will become the text of choice for both scholars and students of the Black Atlantic.” — African American Review

“The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is the foundational text of African-American autobiography. This welcome edition, ably edited by Angelo Costanzo, provides readers of today a generous introduction to Equiano’s life and times in a highly readable and informative format.” — William L. Andrews, University North Carolina, Chapel Hill

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