OLAUDAH EQUIANO 1750 1797 AFRICAN SLAVE AND WRITER EQUIANO OLAUDAH 1750 1797 ARTS REGION AFRICA AFRICAN AMERICANS AMERICAN CULTURE OLAUDAH EQUIANO WAS BORN IN WEST AFRICA IN PRESENT DAY NIGERIA HE WAS THE SON OF A VILLAGE CHIEF OF THE IBO PEOPLE WHEN HE WAS 11 OR 12 EQUIANO WAS KIDNAPPED BY NEIGHBORING VILLAGERS AND SOLD TO WHITE SLAVE TRADERS AFTER A GRUELING 6 MONTH JOURNEY IN THE HOLD OF A SLAVE SHIP EQUIANO ARRIVED IN THE WEST INDIES HE WAS THEN TRANSPORTED TO VIRGINIA AND SOLD TO A PLANTER EVENTUALLY EQUIANO WAS SOLD TO MICHAEL PASCAL A BRITISH NAVAL OFFICER PASCAL RENAMED HIM GUSTAVUS VASSA AND TAUGHT HIM TO READ AND WRITE EQUIANO ALSO LEARNED TO PILOT A SHIP DURING THE OCEAN VOYAGES HE MADE WITH PASCAL EVENTUALLY EQUIANO EARNED ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY HIS FREEDOM IN JULY 1766 SOON AFTER GAINING HIS FREEDOM HE MOVED TO GREAT BRITAIN AND BECAME AN ACTIVE ABOLITIONIST IN 1789 EQUIANO PUBLISHED HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY THE INTERESTING NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF OLAUDAH EQUIANO OR GUSTAVUS VASSA THE AFRICAN THE BOOK DETAILED HIS LIFE AS A BOY IN AFRICA AND HIS LATER ORDEALS AS A SLAVE
