Kidnapped as a child, he bought his freedom and wrote a bestseller against slavery: Olaudah Equiano

In 1789, a book appeared in London written by a Black man who had been enslaved. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano became a bestseller and a weapon against the slave trade.

Equiano wrote that he was born around 1745 in Igbo land, in what is now south-eastern Nigeria, and that he was kidnapped as a child, sold and transported across the Atlantic. Some historians have questioned whether he was born in Africa or in South Carolina, based on baptismal and naval records, but his account of Africa and the Middle Passage remains powerful and widely read.

Enslaved and freed

Equiano was bought by a British naval officer, Michael Pascal, who renamed him Gustavus Vassa, a name Equiano used for most of his life. He served at sea during the Seven Years’ War, learned to read and write, and was baptised in London. Pascal later sold him to a Quaker merchant, Robert King, in the Caribbean. Equiano traded on the side and saved money, and in 1766 he bought his freedom for forty pounds.

Equiano became a committed Methodist-influenced Christian, and his faith shaped his writing. He saw the slave trade as a sin against God and humanity, and his book is full of Scripture and moral argument.

The Narrative and abolition

The Interesting Narrative described his childhood, his capture, the horrors of the slave ship, his life in slavery and his journey to freedom. It was one of the first widely read accounts by an African of the slave trade. Equiano toured Britain promoting the book, which went through several editions. Equiano worked with British abolitionists, including Granville Sharp, and was a member of the Sons of Africa, a group of Black Britons who campaigned against slavery. He drew public attention to the Zong massacre, in which enslaved Africans were thrown overboard to claim insurance.

Family and legacy

He married an Englishwoman, Susannah Cullen, in 1792, and they had two daughters. He died in London in 1797, ten years before Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807. Equiano’s book remains a key text in the history of slavery and abolition and is studied in schools and universities, including in Nigeria. He was bought and sold as property. He ended his life as an author whose words helped end the trade that had stolen him.