Olaudah Equiano Research Paper

Olaudah Equiano was born in 1745 in an area of Africa which is now Nigeria.At the age of eleven he was captured and brought into slavery. He was forced like many other African Americans during the 17th and 18th century. By reading about his biography in the textbook I learned how the Slave Trade affected the lives of many Africans who were enslaved like Equiano. I believe that without the Atlantic Slave Trade the United States would not be the great country it is today because the U.S. needed to exploit all that free labor in order to build this country. White people were lazy so they needed people to care for their livestock, cook for them, take care of their children, wash their clothes, harvest cotton and tobacco that they had to sell. …show more content…
One fascinating fact about his biography is that at one point in his life he worked in the navy as an entrepreneur. Finally, in 1766 when he was 21 years old he had enough money saved up to buy his freedom in America. Shortly after, he moved to London and paid tutors to to teach him about hairdressing, math, and how to play the French horn. Lastly, he obtained money by working as a merchant seaman in the ports in the United Kingdom. Olaudah Equiano story is an inspiring story because it shows that even when people dehumanize you, take your freedom, and strip you from your pride you still have the power to rebuild yourself. It it a shame that it took slavery for us to realize that everyone has the human right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness therefore, it is nearly impossible for each person to control one another because in the end, there will always be a retaliation of some sort.In conclusion, African slaves were treated poorly. They were given no rights and their opinion did not matter. Slavery was a horrible event in history where many womens and mens live were sacrificed for everyday things we buy at our local grocery store