“Wishing for Death”: Fabrication, Abolition, and Viability in
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano Frederick Douglas once said, “We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and to the future.” Olaudah Equiano’s narrative is a description of the past that must be considered in the present of 1789. His memoir proved a vital piece of literature in the enactment of the Slave Trade Act of 1807 in Britain (Revealing Histories, n.d.). It has since been argued that he was not born in Africa, but instead in South Carolina. Even if this is true, the birthplace of Equiano does not affect the viability or reliability of the memoir as a source on slavery and the slave trade. There is inconclusive evidence
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano Frederick Douglas once said, “We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and to the future.” Olaudah Equiano’s narrative is a description of the past that must be considered in the present of 1789. His memoir proved a vital piece of literature in the enactment of the Slave Trade Act of 1807 in Britain (Revealing Histories, n.d.). It has since been argued that he was not born in Africa, but instead in South Carolina. Even if this is true, the birthplace of Equiano does not affect the viability or reliability of the memoir as a source on slavery and the slave trade. There is inconclusive evidence