When I was still teaching, I came across an interesting narrative I had never seen before – a chapter from a book written by an Igbo child who was abducted, held in slavery in Africa, and then sold as a slave in the New World.

The chapter came from “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African.” The autobiography, first published in 1789 in London, is by an African from what is now Nigeria. Equiano was enslaved in childhood, eventually earned his freedom, and became an abolitionist in the United Kingdom.

The book describes Equiano’s time as a slave and tracks his attempts at becoming an independent man through his study of the Bible and learning as much as he could about maritime navigation and accounting. In the end, his efforts paid off. He earned his own freedom and became a successful businessman.

In Chapter 2, Equiano explains how he and his sister were kidnapped while their parents were working the fields. They were forced to travel with their captors for a time until the two children were separated.

Equiano then became the slave-companion to the children of a wealthy chieftain. He stayed with them for about a month until he accidentally killed one of his master’s chickens and ran away. After several days without food, Equiano stole into his master’s kitchen to eat. After his meal, he fell asleep. Another slave found him and begged the master to show Equiano mercy. The master forgave the child.

Soon after, Equiano was sold to a group of travelers. One day, his sister appeared with her master at the house, where the two shared a joyous reunion. However, she and her company depart, and Equiano never sees his sister again.

Equiano was eventually sold to a wealthy widow and her young son. Equiano lived happily almost as an equal among them until he was again taken away and forced to travel with “heathens” to the seacoast.

Equiano was forced onto a slave ship and spent the next several weeks on the ship under terrible conditions. He points out the “closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate added to the number in the ship” was suffocating. Some slaves crossing during the Middle Passage even preferred to drown.

His description of little children falling into the “necessary tubs,” the makeshift bathrooms for the chained slaves, brings the horrors of the trip to the New World into vibrant reality. They finally reach the island of Barbados, where Equiano and all the other slaves are separated and sold.

The autobiography details the time he spent on plantations, his time spent aboard ships, his travels to the United States, and his final travels to England. Along the way, he continually fought stereotypes that tried to belittle his intelligence, his work ethic, and his character. In the end, his intelligence and virtue won the admiration of many of those who came to know him.

He traveled widely, learned to speak, read and write English fluently, and eventually produced his autobiography to gain sympathy for the abolitionist movement in England.

“The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” was one of the first slave narratives that received wide public acceptance. Nine editions were printed during the author’s lifetime. His autobiography was even translated into Dutch and German. The structure and rhetorical strategies of the book were influential and created a model for many slave narratives that came later.

Once I read the chapter included in the textbook I used in the classroom, I had to track down a copy of the entire book. I own the book both in print and as an audio book. I recommend it to you.

You can access it online at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15399/15399-h/15399-h.htm

Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.