Olaudah Equiano's Arguments Against Slavery

In the novel by Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings, Equiano addresses and shares many controversial issues and stories on the topic of slavery during the 18th century. The story also unfolds on his life during this hard time and how he was taken into slavery, the hardships he encountered along the way, and how he managed to find God, and was finally able to earn his freedom. The most convincing of Olaudah Equiano’s arguments against slavery would be his emphasis on the brutality toward the enslaved. This can be supported by the effects slavery had on the families of the enslaved, the description and telling of the Middle Passage from Africa to the Americas, as well as the harsh treatments and punishments toward the enslaved. As the novel starts out, Equiano recalls the history of where he was born, which was the tribe of Eboe, in the province of Essaka which was a part of Guinea. Eboe had an established set of laws for their society and was a civilized placed. Equiano goes on to relate his …show more content…
English philosopher John Locke stated that slavery was only justifiable if the person was taken as a prisoner of war. Many argued that slavery was wrong, but also key in developing an empire as well as in the conversion of the Africans to Christians. There was soon a shift though, in the 18th Century because of the Enlightenment. It was believed that Christians could and should not be enslaved. In the Pillars of the Enlightenment, one of the new main ideas was one of humanitarianism, which believed that all men were created equal, and it is their born right that all men are free. This thought eventually led to the passing of the Declaration of the Rights of Men and Citizen, in which the articles state that all men are born and remain free and equal in right. As well as every man is equal in the law and it is every man’s natural right to be free (Lecture