Alternative Africa

Top Menu

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
  • Environment
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Reports
    • Africa-Observers
      • Read Reports
      • Submit a story
  • MORE
    • Health
    • News Now
    • World
    • Technology
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us

logo

Alternative Africa

  • Home
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
  • Environment
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Reports
    • Africa-Observers
      • Read Reports
      • Submit a story
  • MORE
    • Health
    • News Now
    • World
    • Technology
  • 33 year old Nigerian, Michael Nzube dies under police custody in India

  • Trial to begin for US policeman charged with George Floyd death

  • France to counter rising Chinese influence in Africa with generous, efficient aids

  • Zimbabwe reports impressive growth in production in 2020 despite Covid-19

  • Covax delivers 12 million vaccines doses to 17 African countries for vaccination

AfrikaTVArts & CultureEditorialsNews Now
Home›AfrikaTV›Olaudah Equiano – The Nigerian slave who fought for the end of slave trade

Olaudah Equiano – The Nigerian slave who fought for the end of slave trade

By PSJ Africa
October 17, 2017
5500
2
Share:

Born in 1746, Olaudah Equiano was a Nigerian who wrote a first-hand book on the evils of the slave trade. He was also known as Gustavus Vassa and fought for the movement to end the slave trade.

Equiano’s story starts at the age of 11 in a village in the Benin, Nigeria. He and his sister were kidnapped from their family compound in Etsako and sold into slavery.

Olaudah Equiano and his sister were taken to the Caribbean island of Barbados along with over 200 captives. They were later moved to Virginia.

In the year 1754, Equiano was bought by a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, Michael Pascal. The naval man renamed him Gustavus Vassa after the 16th century King of Sweden. Equiano did not like the new name and had to be physically beaten to accept Gustavus Vassa.

Youssou N’Dour played the role of Olaudah Equiano in the movie Amazing Grace

According to history, Pascal was kind to Olaudah Equiano. Michael Pascal returned to England and took Olaudah Equiano with him. The Nigerian slave took part in the Seven Years’ War with France. He was charged with the duty of bringing gunpowder to the ship deck.

In England, Equiano was baptized at St Margaret’s, Westminster in 1759. He also learnt how to read and write in England by his godparents Mary Guerin and her brother, Maynard. They were Michael Pascal’s cousins.

Olaudah Equiano would soon have a new master by the name Captain James Doran of the Charming Sally. Equiano would later find himself in the Caribbean again. Shortly after, he was sold again to Robert King, an American who was a Quaker.

Equiano underwent a lot of personal growth under James Doran. His reading and writing got much better. He was given more business responsibilities. At the age of 20, Equiano was promised he could buy his freedom for £40. He bought his freedom in 1767.

Olaudah Equiano preferred to leave the British colonies because of the limited opportunities for a black man.

Equiano moved back to England. During this period, he travelled the seas including a trip to the Arctic in a bid to find the northern route to India. During this voyage, he met Dr Charles Irving who invented a process to distill sea water.

A couple of years later Irving and Equiano would work together on a project that involved selecting and managing slaves as labourers on sugar cane plantations. This was because of his Igbo background.

Freedom was a culture shock for Equiano and he admitted to having suicidal tendencies. He would find peace in the Methodist denomination.

Olaudah Equiano became involved in the abolitionist movement in the 1780s when he moved back to London. Equiano grew to be an influential individual in the abolitionist movement. He was encouraged to write a memoir based on his life experiences as a slave which he did in 1789.

It was titled “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African”. The book was a huge success and had 9 editions in his lifetime.

His account of slavery helped push the abolitionist movement in leaps and bounds.

Olaudah Equiano got married on April 7, 1792, to Susannah Cullen, a white woman. The union produced two daughters Anna Maria and Joanna. On March 31, 1797, at the age of 52.

In 1833, The Slavery Abolition Act was passed in the United Kingdom.

SHARE ON:
Previous Article

Frugal Traveler: Navigating Sometimes Chaotic, Always Fascinating ...

Next Article

Ivorian Kalou buoyed by Hertha’s anti-racism protest

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

PSJ Africa

Related articles More from author

  • News NowPolitics

    USAID Met With Group That Belittled The Apartheid Era

    May 23, 2018
    By PSJ Africa
  • News Now

    Nigeria: EFCC, INTERPOL Parley to Fight Human Trafficking, Migrant Smuggling

    August 16, 2018
    By alternativeafrica
  • AfrikaTVNews NowSports

    Video highlights: Uruguay strike late to beat Egypt without Salah

    June 15, 2018
    By alternativeafrica
  • AfricaHealthNews Now

    Congo: Ebola response tightens in east as seven new cases confirmed – health ministry

    October 10, 2018
    By VJ Africa
  • News NowWorld

    World: Spain asks EU for emergency funding to help with migrant arrivals

    August 6, 2018
    By VJ Africa
  • AfricaNews Now

    Niger president, Issoufou Mahamadou fires army chief after 89 killed in extremist attack

    January 14, 2020
    By alternativeafrica

2 comments

  1. Nwa Nri 9 February, 2019 at 18:35 Reply

    You mean the Biafran Igbo man, his not Nigerian he died before Nigeria was created

    • PSJ Africa 11 February, 2019 at 17:43 Reply

      There was no Biafra at the time of his death either…

Leave a reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You might be interested

  • BusinessNews Now

    Exxon seeks to sell out of Tanzanian gas field

  • BusinessNews NowTechnology

    Nigeria ready to begin local production of helicopters-NASENI

  • AfricaBusinessHealthNews Now

    Ahead of flight resumption, EgyptAir installs special filter that kills 99 percent of viruses, microbes on board

Timeline

  • March 7, 2021

    33 year old Nigerian, Michael Nzube dies under police custody in India

  • March 7, 2021

    Trial to begin for US policeman charged with George Floyd death

  • March 7, 2021

    France to counter rising Chinese influence in Africa with generous, efficient aids

  • March 7, 2021

    Zimbabwe reports impressive growth in production in 2020 despite Covid-19

  • March 7, 2021

    Covax delivers 12 million vaccines doses to 17 African countries for vaccination

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Lagos govt confirms first case of deadly coronavirus infection in Nigeria

    By alternativeafrica
    February 28, 2020
  • Keynote Address of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at 2018 Oxford Africa Conference

    By PSJ Africa
    May 14, 2018
  • Morocco begins regional integration by connecting Casablanca Airport with High Speed Train

    By alternativeafrica
    January 4, 2020
  • Kenyan govt pressure Facebook for data on Kenyan users

    By alternativeafrica
    November 20, 2019
  • Nigeria: 32,000 capacity Lagos rice mill to start production in 2020

    By alternativeafrica
    December 23, 2019
  • Ado zagi
    on
    January 12, 2021

    Nigeria: EFCC Academy to begin award of degree

    Diploma leave areply from
  • Ethiopia joins Africa's Artificial Intelligence revolution | Alternative Africa
    on
    October 2, 2020

    Spending on Artificial Intelligence Systems in Africa, Middle East to top $374 million in 2020

    […] Many African countries ...
  • The 5 most popular Africans 2020
    on
    September 25, 2020

    Celebrating Congolese doctor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the man behind breakthrough of Ebola cure

    […] Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two | taktik(z) GDI (Government Defense ...
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack fol­lowed a January ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack followed a ...
AlternativeAfrica.com is an independent Pan African News Website dedicated primarily to influencing the negative narratives about Africa. We hope to do this by focusing and showcasing the many developmental strides sweeping across the continent.

Read more >>>

Contact Info

  • info@alternativeafrica.com
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • 33 year old Nigerian, Michael Nzube dies under police custody in India

    By alternativeafrica
    March 7, 2021
  • Trial to begin for US policeman charged with George Floyd death

    By alternativeafrica
    March 7, 2021
  • France to counter rising Chinese influence in Africa with generous, efficient aids

    By alternativeafrica
    March 7, 2021
  • Zimbabwe reports impressive growth in production in 2020 despite Covid-19

    By alternativeafrica
    March 7, 2021
  • Lagos govt confirms first case of deadly coronavirus infection in Nigeria

    By alternativeafrica
    February 28, 2020
  • Keynote Address of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at 2018 Oxford Africa Conference

    By PSJ Africa
    May 14, 2018
  • Macron in Ivory Coast to launch anti-terrorism academy

    By alternativeafrica
    December 21, 2019
  • Kenyan govt pressure Facebook for data on Kenyan users

    By alternativeafrica
    November 20, 2019
  • Ado zagi
    on
    January 12, 2021

    Nigeria: EFCC Academy to begin award of degree

    Diploma leave areply from
  • Ethiopia joins Africa's Artificial Intelligence revolution | Alternative Africa
    on
    October 2, 2020

    Spending on Artificial Intelligence Systems in Africa, Middle East to top $374 million in 2020

    […] Many African countries ...
  • The 5 most popular Africans 2020
    on
    September 25, 2020

    Celebrating Congolese doctor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the man behind breakthrough of Ebola cure

    […] Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two | taktik(z) GDI (Government Defense ...
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack fol­lowed a January ...

Photostream

    Follow us

    • Home
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
    © Copyright Alternative Africa 2019. All rights reserved.