How Is Olaudah Equiano Abolish The African Slave Trade

Document 10; OLAUDAH EQUIANO: The African Slave Trade The document, The African Slave Trade, was taken from the book, The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, written by Olaudah Equiano himself in 1789. Equiano’s book is composed of more than six thousand eyewitness accounts of the slave trade, his being one of the most important. Equiano was an Ibo prince who was kidnapped into slavery at just eleven years of age. Before he was able to purchase his freedom in 1766 he was taken from Africa to Barbados, sent to Virginia, served in the British navy and lastly sold to a Quaker merchant. After Equiano purchased his freedom he worked to abolish the slave trade. Equiano provides us with the perspective of an African slave during the American Revolution however his account does not provide us with the experiences of other voices, we can look into other sources for that information. …show more content…
Equiano describes his experience on his trip from Africa to Barbados as horrifying, like nothing that he had experienced before. Equiano provides us with the detail of the ship of being extremely crowed, having a hot climate, and the spread of diseases. Along with an understanding of the treatment the information also provides us with some understanding of other aspects such as the appearance of the people or reason for so many fatalities. These two examples are not the only two. This document along with others allows us a look into the past, filling us with information that otherwise would be