Olaudah Equiano was kidnapped at age 11 from his home in Africa and experienced the horrors of the Middle Passage while being transported on a slave ship. He eventually learned to read and write and published an influential biography called The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, The African, advocating for personal freedom and religious tolerance as key Enlightenment ideals. Despite once being enslaved himself, Equiano also worked in the slave trade, an ironic twist in his journey from slave to abolitionist advocate.

1. The Slave Who CouldOlaudah EquianoNathen Smith 4A

2. Olaudah Equiano

3. Early lifeOlaudah and his sister were kidnapped at the age of eleven. Where he saw the first white man for the first timeHad to experience the Middle Passage on a slave ship.Learned to read and write

4. WritingsHis Biography called, The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, The African.

5. Place in The EnlightenmentThe two most enlightenment aspects he was enlightened in were Personal Freedom and Religious ToleranceHe wanted to purchase his freedom from being a slave and wanted to abolish slavery.Olaudah says a key moment of his life was being baptized into Christianity. Where he devoted himself to be a missionary.

6. Most Interesting FactIt was ironic that he traded slaves when he once was one and the same thing happened to him.