12. The Amazing Story of Olaudah Equiano[1]
Numerous Africans have been shipped to the Americas to be sold as slaves. A few ended their life by jumping overboard. The rest made the crossing over the Atlantic, set foot on American soil, and was bought by a slave owner. Very few managed to escape a life of slavery. One of them was Olaudah Equiano also known as Gustavo Vasso. He was a very special one. He learned to read and write and was able to author the story of his life. For many reasons it is worth present his story here. It is an epic story full of unexpected twists and turns. His tale offers new insights in the essence of slavery; how people experienced slavery and how their masters thought and acted. It is a remarkable story, partly because Olaudah was a very talented and adaptable man who used every opportunity to advance himself in life, and partly because he was fortunate to have fallen in the hands of some good natured slave owners. And whenever he was less lucky, he managed to steer Lady Fortuna in the right direction.
During his Odyssey he faced fierce storms and high seas. More than once he looked into the eyes of the grim reaper. He underwent brutal treatments, but most of his owners were kind to him. They offered him the opportunity to study. It helped quite a lot that he was eager to learn, and was blessed with a talent for writing. The living proof for this is his autobiographical: “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano.” This book tells us that he survived a shipwreck, learned to navigate and to trade and made enough money to buy his freedom. The contrast between his life and that of the large majority of enslaved blacks is huge. No wonder that Olaudah found himself very privileged. His observations offer a clear picture of the hard reality of slavery in the Caribbean and North America. By reading his book, we become familiar with the life of slaves during the heyday of colonisation.
His book was first published in England. There, it made a deep imprint on everyone who read it. It played a prominent role in raising awareness for the cruelty of slavery. Thus it inspired the British anti-slavery movement. His book offers the valuable insight that the story of colonial slavery is a story full of blacks being mistreated and oppressed by whites, but, from the start, Equiano’s story shows that there is room for some nuances.
As a child Olaudah Equiano and his sister were kidnapped by Africans from another tribe. They transported them from his place of birth in Nigeria to the west coast of Africa, to be sold to the captain of a slave ship. During his enslavement he encountered many bad Europeans and Americans, but also some good ones, who helped him in positive ways. To be enslaved and being shipped to the other side of the world is horrific. Being sold, and being forced to work hard without proper pay on a farm, a ship, or in a mine or a mill also is terrible. And what made matters worse is that most enslaved men and women often were mistreated. Yet many enslaved blacks, in particular house slaves, lived in relatively good circumstances, especially when we compare their conditions with those cutting cane or plucking cotton in the tropical heat. In many respects the situation of house servants was less poor and more comfortable then that of the average peasant, crop sharer, farm hand, or mine and factory worker in Europe. In general, many of those born on American soil, those who never had lived as a free person in Africa, succeeded to cope with their situation. Those who had been enslaved at birth or at a very young age somehow adjusted to their social circumstances. Some had the good fortune to regain their freedom. Though, from the narrative of Olaudah Equiano, and from other subjective stories and a lot of objective research, we learn that their transition to legal freedom did not bring an end to all their problems. They still were confronted with racism, discrimination and other kinds of setbacks, because many American whites refused to recognize the rights and status of freed blacks. Besides, even emancipation did not give them the same civil rights as whites. So, when Olaudah Equiano also known as Gustavo Vasso was able to buy his freedom, he still was not treated as an equal of the whites. Hence, he decided to go back, not to Africa, but to England, where he had been treated and educated well. How did that happen?
Olaudah Equiano was born in 1745, in the Kingdom of Benin. His parents lived in a lovely valley on rich soil where cops plants grew easily. As a child Olaudah had never seen the sea and never seen a white person. His place of birth was hundreds of miles away from the coast. His father was a highly respected chieftain. One of his father’s most important tasks was solving legal issues. The basic rule was that punishment had to be meted out in proportion to the committed crime: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, et cetera.[2]
Olaudah remembers the case of a tribesman who had kidnapped the son of one of the chiefs. His father ordered the culprit to compensate the bereaved father with one of his slaves. Why was this criminal not ordered to bring back the stolen son? Well, it was already too late for that. The kidnapped son had been sold to an African slave trader and was taken to the coast. This story shows that the slave trade already existed upcountry, far away from the Ocean coast. Olaudah recounts that also his father, like all chieftains, owned a number of slaves and several wives. The wife, servants and slaves could only start eating after the head of the family had finished his meal.
Life was simple, and so was the food. The only luxuries were the smells of various types of wood. The land was rich and fruitful, but had to be toiled by hand, with hoes and three pronged forks. A big disadvantage was that the fertile ground was situated at a large distance from their huts. When the men and women had to work on the land, children and elderly people were left behind in their hamlet. While the small children were playing outdoors, older children had to climb in trees to see whether potential kidnappers were approaching their playing ground. Nonetheless, one day Olaudah and his sister got kidnapped. They were gagged to prevent them from shouting for help. Two men and a woman tied their hands and carried them over their shoulder, quickly disappearing in the jungle. The robbers only halted during the night to eat some food. Also Olaudah and his sister did get some food, but, initially, they refused to eat. They fell asleep with tears in their eyes. After several days of tiresome travelling, they were handed over to a slave trader, who took them further away from their home village. They changed hands a few more times before they reached the coast.
Halfway Olaudah, but not his sister, was bought by a chieftain who spoke his language. This chieftain and his wife treated him well. This was a tiny plaster on the deep wound caused by the separation from his parents and his sister. Olaudah made one attempt to escape. He ran into the woods, but did not dare to move on because he feared to get lost or killed by an animal. So, he returned to his temporary master. Maybe, it was because of his attempted escape that his master decided to pass him on to another trader, who took him further westward. Here, Olaudah met people whose language he did not speak, but he always succeeded to learn some basic words of their language. After a voyage that took several weeks, he arrived in the city of Tinmah, which he found beautiful. The big white houses where solidly constructed. In Tinmah he was bought by a rich widower with a son of his age. He assumed that he was bought to become the playmate of this son. To his great surprise he was allowed to sit at the table and eat with his master and his son. The other slaves and servants had to wait until the master had finished eating. For two months, he played with his master’s son. For him, this was a good time, full of happiness. He even started to think that he would be adopted and become a free member of this family. But one night he was kidnapped for the second time. While his master was asleep, he was lifted from his bed, and taken to the big river, put in a boat, and transported to the coast. Finally, he arrived at the Atlantic coast where ships were waiting for kidnapped Africans.
At first he was amazed to see such large ships, but this feeling changed into horror when he was taken aboard and realized what was going on. Here he met people that belonged to an entirely different race, humans with loose hanging hair and a reddish skin, people who made the strangest sounds when they spoke. He was shocked when he saw how these people mistreated fellow Africans. This was so different from what he had been used to at home.[3] On board, the blacks were chained to each other. They looked dejected, depressed and despondent. As soon as the African traders had received their money and left, he realized that he would never return home. He was put into a large room below deck. He had to share this murky space with at least hundred other victims, huddled together. The stench was unbearable, the air hardly breathable. The situation became even worse when more people were pushed in this overcrowded space. Intermittently, slaves were taken outside for some fresh air. But this did not happen often enough. Quite a few slaves died because of the foul air.
On board Olaudah met a few men that spoke his language. They told him what was going to happen; that he was crossing a big sea and to be sold to a white master. Overseas he would be forced to hard labour for the rest of his life. The work aspect did not seem undoable for someone who had seen his parents working the land. But the extremely cruel actions of the captain and boatman did not forebode well. For the first time of his life he witnessed that people where whipped to death. This happened to slaves that had tried to jump overboard. Olaudah expected that this could happen to him too. He even feared that he would be killed and eaten by the white folk or sacrificed to their gods.
After many weeks at sea, they arrived in Barbados. The captured Africans got cleansed and oiled to look as healthy and strong as possible. Because the slaves did not know what was going on, they yelled for fear. They had to be quieted down by fellow slaves that had lived on Barbados for many years. These experienced bondmen assured them that they would not be eaten, but had to work on plantations where they would meet members of their own tribe. They were being sold in small groups or individually. Almost all sellers and buyers were Christians. These Christians did not care whether this meant that close relatives would be separated for the rest of their life. Their only goal was making money. And the only motive of the sellers was to get the best slave for their money.[4] Also Olaudah was sold to a planter. After a short, but unpleasant stay at the plantation he was sold on to Michael Henry Pascal, captain of a merchant ship. Pascal took him to England where he planned to give him as a present to one of his friends. On board of this merchant vessel, everybody was quite nice to him. Also the food was good. Captain Pascal gave him a new name: Gustavus Vasso. Olaudah got befriended with passenger Richard Baker. This young American taught him English. Because the voyage lasted longer than expected, food and water got rationed. Members of the crew started to make jokes about cooking and eating him. A very horrified Olaudah did not see that they were only joking.
In the spring of 1757 Equiano arrived in Falmouth. Here he was surprised to see paved roads and even bigger buildings. He was put in the care of a friendly British family that treated him well. Alas, this pleasant intermezzo ended when the captain returned. Pascal, now a lieutenant of the Royal Navy, took him on board of the Roebuck, a 44 gun frigate. There, young men were trained for battle. In the beginning very little happened. When Gustavo got seriously ill, he was taken to hospital, where the doctors thought it would be best to amputate his legs. But Gustavo refused to cooperate. Fortunately, he recovered and was taken back to his master. In the meantime, his master had been promoted to first lieutenant. He was now stationed on the 90 gun Namur. This was the flagship of large fleet ordered to sail to North America to fight and drive back the French. Gustavo participated in several battles as one of the “powder monkeys”[5]. This meant that he had the dangerous job of carrying explosive powder to the guns. Many crew members got killed, but he survived without any scar or wound. In the meantime, Olaudah had gotten used to the situation. He began to find life enjoyable again and got familiar with new manners, habits, and traditions. He admired the knowledge and skills of the English. He had learned a lot about the Christian faith and lost his belief in African ghosts. But the Christian faith made him very afraid about life after death: would he go to heaven or to hell? So, when he arrived in London, he asked his friends to help him become a true Christian. He used his time in London to take reading and writing lessons from a proper teacher.[6] Before he could finish this form of education, he had to embark again on the Namur. The ship got involved in heavy fighting with the French. The Namur got hit and was heavily damaged, but Olaudah was unharmed. During these fights he often got entangled in hazardous situations, but he survived. As a new and fervent believer he interpreted this as living proof that God was well-disposed towards him.[7]
After returning to England many navy men received a medal for valiant behaviour, but not Olaudah. During the time he was serving in the English Navy, as a normal member and loyal of the crew, he had forgotten that he still was a slave. [8] So, it came as a great shock when he learned that he had been sold on to captain Doran. He was taken to the frigate of captain Doran and put behind locked doors to prevent his escape. For him, the prospect of having to work on a plantation was so depressing that he started to long for an early death, believing that he would awake in heaven:” where slaves are free…” [9]
Because he had always served his master well, Lieutenant Pascal had asked Captain Doran to sell him to a decent master. And so it happened. He was sold to Robert King, a rich merchant and a good hearted Quaker. To his pleasant surprise Olaudah noticed that master King treated all his slaves well, certainly much better than he had experienced on the plantations.[10] King helped Olaudah to become a skilful merchant. Nonetheless, in the beginning he had to do a lot of manual labour, such as rowing boats and loading and unloading goods. Often dock workers had to work very quickly, sometimes for 16 hours without a proper break, so that captains could profit from the right tide or the right wind. Robert King gave his workers extra pay for the extra hours, which was quite exceptional. Also, the food was of good quality. King also offered reliable slaves the chance to earn extra money. Some managed to save enough to buy a rowing boat. Alas, sometimes mischievous whites did steal these hard earned properties of slaves. Since slaves had no rights, they could not go to the police, to report these thefts, let alone ask them to bring the culprits before court.[11] Gradually, Olaudah obtained more interesting tasks and responsibilities. He served his master at home, carried out all kinds of commercial activities and supervised the work of other servants and employees. Other masters who noticed that he was an efficient and skilful seaman, servant, and trades man attempted to lure him away from his boss, but his master did not sell him, no matter the amount of money being offered.
Masters that treated their slaves well were rare. Olaudah observed that planters, who treated their slaves badly, frequently faced resistance, sabotage, a slow working pace, and poor quality of work. In general, malicious masters “produced” unhealthy slaves, prone to accidents and an early death. As a consequence they had to buy replacements. Thus they made less profit. In contrast, bosses that offered better food and decent working conditions fared better. Their slaves were healthier and stronger and executed their tasks with much more care.[12]
Olaudah often witnessed very cruel actions. In particular overseers of absentee masters treated their bonded workers in beastly ways. These rogue whites could rape young slave girls without any risk of punishment, whereas an Afro-American slave could be killed for punting a white prostitute.[13] Olaudah emphasized that all these barbaric punishments were supported by colonial laws. For instance, the 329th Law of the Assembly of Barbados legalizes that if a Negro commits a crime towards his master, the master is allowed to punish him heavily. In these cases, the owner will not be penalized for chopping off a hand or killing the culprit. But if one kills a slave without reason, out of irresistible aggressiveness, stupidity or cruel intent, he had to pay a fine of fifteen pounds.
Very few people have survived so many life threatening situations on a slave ship, during war activities or during blazing storms on a naval vessel as Olaudah Equiano. Not in all cases his fate depended on pure luck. He was intelligent and a quick learner. This helped him to survive under precarious conditions. He mastered all kinds of skills in no time. Besides, he was a good judge of human character, was very empathic and had a strong inclination to please his masters. Thus, he acquired all kinds of favors that improved his living conditions. He was given ever more responsibilities, though this was not always accepted by European-Americans. For that reason his master always had him accompanied by a white assistant. Thus, he could do business via his assistant.
Also Captain Farmer quickly learned to appreciate Olaudah’s skills and willingness to serve, especially at those moments that his white crew was almost too drunk to function well. Olaudah made good use of the fact that his superiors did regard him highly. He began to do some business for himself by trading rum, sugar, fruit, and fowl. His superiors allowed him to use a small part of the loading space. Gradually he earned a fair amount of money that would grow and grow until it became big enough to buy his freedom.[14] But for blacks, freedom could have its drawbacks. On one of the trips to Saint Kitts, he witnessed the following sad affair about a white man who wanted to marry a free, black woman who possessed land and slaves in Montserrat. However, the minister refused to marry them in his church. He said that interracial marriages went against Church Law. Moreover, his white flock would not accept this. However, the man persisted and asked the parson to hold the ceremony on board of a ship. And so it happened.[15] Incidents like these underline that racial inequality and discrimination are deeply rooted in the fabric of society. The freedom of blacks did not equal the freedom of whites, not by a long shot. This was made clear when Olaudah witnessed another incident that was no incident at all, but a quite typical event for that place and time. He saw that one Joseph Clipson, a free mulatto from Saint Kitts, was made a slave again simply because a white captain claimed that he was a runaway, whose master had asked to bring him back to Barbados. He could show his document of emancipation, and say that he always had lived and worked on Saint Kitts, and had a wife and children there, but he was not allowed to bring his case to court. He shackled and forced to board the captain’s ship, never to see his wife and kids again.[16]
Olaudah realized that free blacks and mulattoes never could enjoy real freedom in the West Indies. Constantly they lived in fear of losing their freedom. They had to endure all kinds of insults, and could be conned or robbed, without a chance to do something against this. Courts did not recognize the witness of free black person. Therefore, Olaudah could understand why some preferred the security of slavery above the permanent insecurity of a freedom without civil rights.
Olaudah got sick of life in the West Indies. He cherished his memories of the good old days in England. More than once he had the chance to run away, but since his master King always had been good to him, he decided to stay until he had saved enough money to pay for his freedom. To achieve this goal was not always easy. Not all the white people he dealt with did pay the price that they had agreed upon. Some did not pay him at all for goods he had delivered, or they paid him with coins that were worthless in North America. Whenever he tried to pay for something with these coins he had to run for his life.[17] At another time he got into serious problems when he visited a friend. When this friend’s boss came home as drunk as a kite, the latter got so angry that he lashed Olaudah almost to death and had him thrown into a prison cell. Fortunately, Robert King came to the rescue and brought him to a physician. His boss wanted to bring this case to court, but all lawyers advised him not to do so, because Negro slaves simply had no rights.[18]
Once, Mr. King told him that he could become free as soon as he paid him 40 pound Stirling. In 1766, Olaudah had saved enough, but was unpleasantly surprised when his boss refused to grant him his freedom, for he did not want to loose his excellent services. Never before had he owned such a top quality servant, one who earned him at least 100 pound Stirling a year. But at long last his master went to the registrar’s office to arrange the manumission. The following day, the 10th of July 1766, Equiano received the highly desired document. He was 21 years of age. Seldom, a young slave achieved so much in such a short time. He bought a nice suit and organized a dance party for all his friends. Though he longed to go back to England, he agreed to go on working for Mr. King for another three years while receiving a salary of 36 shillings a month. Then, he finally returned to England.
More than once he attempted to be ordained as an Anglican priest. He wanted to go back to Africa to do missionary work. But the bishop refused to ordain him, despite several positive recommendations from his best friends. In 1785, he signed up for a ship destined for New York. In Philadelphia he met some Quakers that were committed to fight slavery. Back in England again, he looked for ways to help the English abolition movement led by Granville Sharpe. In 1786, he got a leading role in the controversial and disastrous government project to bring poor blacks back to Sierra Leona, West Africa. Already before the ship set sail he was sacked for criticizing some naval officers. Next, he participated in a petition to stop the trade of slaves. He joined the Sons of Africa, an abolitionist committee of educated and free blacks from London.[19] On their behalf, he wrote several letters to editors of newspapers and magazines. On the 21st of March 1788, he also sent a letter to Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III.[20]
In those days, the public interest in the issue of slavery was growing fast. The jobless Equiano decided to write his autobiography. It became a real best seller. Until his death the book was reprinted year by year. Even to date, it still is in print. His endearingly sincere book fitted within a long tradition of autobiographical writing. It was translated into other languages too. Thus it helped the abolition movement in many countries.
In 1792, Olaudah married Susanne Cullen, a woman from Cambridgeshire. Susanne gave birth to two got daughters. His wife died in 1796. Equiano died one year later, on the 31st of March 1797. The eldest daughter died at age four. The other daughter married Rev. Henry Bromley, a Congregational minister. It is not yet known whether they had any children; probably not. The inscription on her gravestone at Abney Park Cemetery reads “Memory of Joanna beloved wife of Henry Bromley, daughter of Gustavus Vassa, the African.”[21]
[1] This is chapter 9 of my book project on the history of slavery and the road to abolition. An earlier Dutch version of this chapter was published in 2013 in: “Afschaffing van de slavernij. Complexe voorgeschiedenis van een wereldwonder.” Garant: Antwerpen/Amsterdam.
(12-4-2026: Words: 4309)
[2] Olaudah Equiano: The interesting narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. Reprinted by Dodo Press. p 2
[3] Olaudah Equiano, o.c.: p 24
[4] Idem, p 29
[5] wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Namur_(1756). Retrieved: January 31, 2019
[6] Olaudah Equiano, o.c.: p 47
[7] Idem p 53
[8] Idem p 61-62
[9] Idem p 64
[10] Idem p 67
[11] Idem p. 68
[12] Idem pp 71-73
[13] Idem pp 70-71
[14] Idem: p 81
[15] Idem: p 84
[16] Idem: p 86
[17] Idem p 92-93
[18] Idem p. 93
[19] Sons of Africa: en.wikipedia.org. Retrieved: January 31, 2019
[20] He signed his letter with “Gustavo Vasso: Oppressed Ethiopian.”
[21] Remembering Equiano; www.eqiano.soham.org.uk