2. Who was Equiano?
Millions of Africans were transported across
the Atlantic and sold into slavery but very
few had the chance to describe their
experience to the world.
One who did was an African named Olaudah
Equiano.
He wrote an amazing autobiography that
described his life's journey from freedom to
slavery and back to freedom again.
3. Childhood...
Olaudah Equiano was born
into a wealthy West African
family in 1745.
His family lived far from the
sea, in an area now part of
Nigeria.
When he was eleven, Equiano
was captured by African
slave traders.
4. ‘One day, when all our people
were gone out to their works as
usual, and only I and my dear
sister were left to mind the
house, two men and a woman
got over our walls, and in a
moment seized us
both, and, without giving us time
to cry out, or make
resistance, they stopped our
mouths, and ran off with us into
the nearest wood. Here they tied
our hands, and continued to
5. Equiano was sold several times and eventually
ended up by the African coast.
What do you think happened to him next?
6. Equiano found himself on the Africa's Atlantic
coast for the first time in his life. There he
saw a slave ship anchored offshore.
He had no idea what lay ahead. No Africans
had ever returned from the Americas to tell
of their fate.
7. “When I looked around the ship and saw ... a
multitude of black people, of every description,
chained together, every one of their
countenances expressing dejection and sorrow, I
no longer doubted of my fate; and, quite
overpowered with horror and anguish, I fell
motionless on the deck, and fainted. . . I asked if
we were not to be eaten by those white men
with horrible looks, red faces and long hair?"
In your books, answer the questions below.
Describe what Equiano saw when he went onto
the slave ship.
How do you think he felt and why?
9. What can you remember about the
Middle Passage?
What do you think Equiano’s journey
to America was like?
10. Equiano was only 12 when he was transported
on a slave ship.
How do you think he felt?
Write down as many words as you can to
describe how he might have been feeling.
11. The slave auction...
‘On a signal given (as the beat of a drum), the
buyers rush at once into the yard where the
slaves are confined, and make choice... The
noise with which this is attended, and the
eagerness visible in the countenances of the
buyers, serve not a little to increase the
apprehension of terrified Africans... In this
manner are relations and friends
separated, most of them never to see each
other again.’
Write down five words to describe the slave
auction.
12. Equiano was taken north to a plantation in
Virginia. There he was shocked to see the
instruments used to control and punish
slaves:
“A black woman slave was cruelly loaded with
various kinds of iron machines; she had one
on her head which locked her mouth so fast
that she could barely speak, and could not
eat or drink.”
Why do you think some
slaves were treated like
this ?
13. Equiano was soon sold again. His new owner
was named Michael Henry Pascal, a
lieutenant in the British navy.
Pascal gave him Equiano a new name:
Gustavus Vassa
Why do you think slave owners renamed their
slaves?
14. Equiano refused to answer to this name at first.
Pascal slapped him with each refusal, and
soon he relented.
How is this similar to Kunta/Toby in Roots?
How is this different to Kunta/Toby in Roots?
15. Education in slavery...
Under Pascal, Equiano learned to be a sailor. He
spent much time in England, where he
managed to educate himself as well.
Based on what we know so far, what do you
think of Pascal?
What do you think Equiano thinks about him?
16. “I began to consider myself as happily
situated, for my master treated me always
extremely well; and my attachment and
gratitude to him were very great. I soon grew
a stranger to terror of every kind, and was, in
that respect at least almost an Englishman.”
17. How does this image
of Equiano back up
what we know
about him?
22. After seven years, Equiano had grown
comfortable with his fate.
What does that mean?
Why has he accepted it?
23. He was shocked once again when his owner
sold him. His buyer was Captain James
Doran, who was the captain of a ship bound
for the West Indies.
How do you think Equino felt about his new
owner?
What could he do about it?
24. Equiano challenged the sale and told Doran this:
“I told him my master could not sell me to
him, nor to anyone else.
'Why,' said he, 'did not your master buy you?'
I confessed he did. 'But I have served him,' said
I, 'many years, besides this I have been
baptized, and by the laws of the land no man
has a right to sell me.'
And I added that I had heard a lawyer and others
at different times tell my master so.”
Do you think this will change anything?
25. Doran was not persuaded:
“Captain Doran said he had a method on board
to make me [behave]. I was too well
convinced of his power over me to doubt
what he said; and my former sufferings in the
slave-ship presenting themselves to my mind,
the recollection of them made me shudder.”
What might Equiano have been thinking about?
26. Doran took Equiano back to the Caribbean and
sold him on.
He was bought by a merchant from Philadelphia
named Robert King.
King treated Equiano well, but Equiano had
tasted freedom and couldn't accept a slave's
life anymore.
How has Equiano ‘tasted freedom’?
28. Eventually he saved 40 pounds (equal to about
£4,500 today).
That was enough to purchase his freedom.
Do you think this is a fair amount for a human’s
freedom?
29. “Before night, I who had been a slave in the
morning, trembling at the will of another, was
become my own master and completely free. I
thought this was the happiest day I had ever
experienced.”
Write down five words to describe how you
think Equiano felt?
32. A free man!
As a free man,
Equiano continued
working as a sailor
for years. He
travelled widely,
but his personal
struggle against
racism and slavery
continued.
33. Equiano became a public
speaker in his adopted
home of England.
In 1789, he wrote his
autobiography, The
Interesting Narrative of
The Life of Olaudah
Equiano.
It was an immediate best
seller!
Equiano became England's
leading spokesperson for
blacks and the abolition of
slavery.
34. Olaudah Equiano died in 1797.
Ten years later, Britain and the United
States abolished the slave trade.
35. Your task...
You are going to write about Olaudah Equiano.
You must write in full sentences and using
paragraphs and correct punctuation.
You will be given a plan to follow and you can
use the information in your books to help
you.
36. Olaudah Equiano
Introduction
Explain a bit about the slave trade and the middle passage.
Write about Equiano’s background in Africa and how he was captured as child.
Paragraph 2
Write about how what Equiano saw on the ship and what his journey might have
been like.
Describe the slave auction and how you think he must have felt.
Paragraph 3
Write about what Equiano’s life was like when he was owned by Mr Pascal: what did
he learn; how did he feel?
Paragraph 4
Explain how he was sold again and then bought his own freedom.
Write about what Equiano did once he was free.
Conclusion
Your opinion: what do you think about Olaudah Equiano and his life?
How important do you think he is? How is he different to other slaves?
Can you compare him to Kunta Kinte in ‘Roots’?
