You’ve more than likely heard the name Olaudah Equiano. After all, he made a huge impact on the world during his lifetime. He arguably played a big role in changing the course of history and penned one of the most gripping autobiographies of the 18th century. It’s really no wonder that he’s stood the test of time and that many people are still familiar with the name Olaudah Equiano.
During his lifetime, most people likely would have said ‘no’ if you’d have asked them if they’d heard that name. This is because for the most influential years of his life Olaudah instead went by the name Gustavus Vassa.
Why? Well, because his name was stripped away from him by a man called Michael Henry Pascal. Pascal could do this because he owned Olaudah. The idea that someone could so easily have their birth name taken away and replaced with another is something that most would surely agree is an unjust, undignified and inhumane action.
Quite simply, it was just one of many cruelties that slaves were subjected to.
Thankfully, before his death, he’d once again go by the name Olaudah Equiano. This didn’t come easily and it wasn’t without its battles. But the fact that we now recognise the name ‘Olaudah Equiano’ rather than ‘Gustavus Vassa’ is a testament to the unyielding spirit of a man who lived through so much and never stopped fighting – even when his own battle was over.
From freedom to slavery
Olaudah wasn’t born into slavery. Unlike men such as Ignatius Sancho who was claimed as property from birth, Olaudah actually knew what freedom tasted like for the first decade of his life.
He was born in what is now Nigeria in 1745. Then known as the Kingdom of Benin, it provided Olaudah with a childhood that was rich in culture. He would refer to the community as a ‘nation of dancers, musicians and poets’ with its own rituals and traditions. Olaudah’s father, for instance, had a chief-like role in the area’s tribe and was active in settling disputes.
Slavery, however, was never too far away. While Olaudah himself was free, slavery, kidnapping and keeping prisoners of war was both internal and external threat of which he was always aware. Unfortunately, this constant fear would materialise into a very real threat when he was just 11-years-old. This was when Olaudah, along with his sister, was captured and sold to slave traders.
In that instant, his life changed. Olaudah did manage to meet his sister again after they were initially parted, but he was ultimately forced to navigate life alone when – along with 244 other slaves – he was transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the British West Indies.
Just like that, his freedom was lost – and it would not be regained for many years to come.
Life as a slave
It’s estimated that between six and seven million enslaved people were transported to the New World throughout the 1700s. We know very little about the vast majority of these people except for that they endured a life of misery – more often than not through a combination of physical, mental and sexual abuse.
Olaudah’s experience, however, is one that we know about in plenty of detail due to his autobiography released in 1789. It spared no detail of the cruelty he was forced to endure starting from his first voyage to Barbados.
The West Indies wasn’t where he would end up permanently, with the young boy soon being sent to Virginia in what would become the United States. It was here where he was purchased by a new master: the aforementioned Michael Henry Pascal. Pascal was a lieutenant in the Royal Navy and wasted no time putting his own stamp on his new ‘property’ by having him suffer the indignity of losing his name.
Olaudah initially refused to comply. He had, after all, already had names forced upon him such as Jacob and Michael. The new moniker now being pushed on him was Gustavus Vassa, a tribute to a former King of Sweden. Olaudah, unfortunately, had very little power and – after much punishment – reluctantly accepted his new name.
With very little control over his own life, Olaudah had no settled home of which to speak during the bulk of his time with Pascal. From Virginia, the pair travelled to London, in the process giving Olaudah a brief taste of the city in which he would one day live as a free man. Olaudah then accompanied his master as he fought in the Seven Years’ War with France.
The fact that Olaudah, while still a slave, was a part of the fight for someone else’s freedom is something that we can easily recognise now as being very ironic. However, this was a normal occurrence during this time period and through this experience, Olaudah endured the atrocities of war first-hand, including the Siege of Louisbourg in 1758 and the Battle of Lagos in 1759.
The way Olaudah went about his duties during the war didn’t go unnoticed by Pascal. Pascal was so impressed by the way his slave carried out tasks such as hauling gunpowder and assisting the crew of the ships that he took a liking to Olaudah and sent him back to Great Britain.
Olaudah then lived with Pascal’s sister-in-law and remained a slave, but there was something different about the experience under her command. Olaudah was permitted to attend school and ultimately learned how to read and write. His owners probably didn’t realise this at the time, but through these means he was actually arming himself to bring down the institution in which he’d suffered since he was first captured at age 11.
In many ways, Olaudah was finally being treated like a human in a few small ways – even if he still lacked many basic rights. As well as learning to read and write, he was also baptised at St Margaret’s in Westminster. Things were certainly better than ever – and they would get even better before all was said and done.
Unfortunately, Olaudah still had a number of years of slavery left to endure and these weren’t to be spent in London. Pascal sold Olaudah, in the process uprooting him from the place where he’d become accustomed to reading and writing, and allowed him to be transported back to the Caribbean. He was then sold to an American merchant called Robert King from Philadelphia.
The Americans had a reputation for being notoriously harsh slave owners. However, for Olaudah, this bill of sale was actually the biggest step he took on his way to becoming a free man.
The road to abolitionism
Despite his story up to this point, Olaudah isn’t just remembered as a man who was once a slave. Instead, he is lauded as one of the most prominent abolitionists of his time. This transition from slave to abolitionist can be traced back to this time with his final master Robert King.
King used Olaudah for his merchant business, but alongside utilising his labour he also taught Olaudah to read and write more fluently. And – while Olaudah was still a slave – he was given the opportunity to make his own money while working for the business. As a result, he soon became a skilled salesman and learned the craft very well.
It surely helped that King made him a promise early on in their relationship. He said that he would be happy for Olaudah to one day buy his freedom and valued him at £40. This would be today’s equivalent of around £5,500, so it’s not something that could happen overnight. However, in 1766 – when Olaudah was still in his early 20s – he finally saved enough money to purchase his freedom.
Of course, there were still obstacles to overcome and on at least one occasion he was almost kidnapped and forced back to enslavement. The years immediately following slavery were spent working at sea, using skills that he’d gained during his time under Pascal and King. He eventually arrived back in England by the late 1770s.
The 1780s was the decade when he would first begin to throw his weight behind the abolitionist movement. The cause was obviously something that was dear to him and he was able to form relationships with like-minded men, including Granville Sharp. Sharp was a major part of London’s abolitionist society and was horrified to hear Olaudah’s accounts of what and other slaves had been through.
In particular, Olaudah educated him about the Zong massacre – an infamous event in which 130 slaves were killed when thrown overboard in the Atlantic. It was stories such as these that really enlightened others to the horrors of slavery and helped the movement build momentum.
Olaudah became more than just a former slave who could be relied upon to assist white abolitionists. Instead, he was an active member of groups such as the Sons of Africa. This group – as well as others like the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade – was instrumental in building a viable movement that would one day lead to the fall of the Slave Trade.
Yes, thanks to Olaudah the movement was going from strength to strength. But he still had one more trick up his sleeve…
A narrative like no other
In 1789, Olaudah – who was still known as Gustavus Vassa – would publish The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. This wasn’t just a defiant act in which he could finally reclaim the name that had been stripped away from him by Pascal but also tell his life story.
It was at times gruesome, horrifying and full of spine-chilling details – all of which was by design. After all, the book was written to illuminate to people the inhumanity of slavery and what large portions of the world were still living through. It was extremely successful in this regard.
The book was a best seller and by 1792 had been printed in places such as Russia, Germany and the United States. In many ways, it was the blueprint for slave narratives that were to follow, including those by Fredrick Douglas and Harriet Jacobs.
These kinds of narratives had never really been told before, with the exception of men like Ignatius Sancho. There were very few former slaves who were able to tell their stories in print, which only gave people even more intrigue to read Olaudah’s book.
It was arguably Olaudah’s crowning achievement and cemented his ability to spark change.
The legacy
Olaudah died in March 1797, by which point he’d spent more than half his life as a free man. He had become a prominent voice of the black community in London and commanded the respect of his contemporaries. He’d also taken a wife, Susannah Cullen, and the two had welcomed two children.
Unfortunately, he wouldn’t actually live to see the fall of the Slave Trade, which eventually happened in 1807 with the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act. While he might not have been there to celebrate this ground-breaking legislation, there was no doubt – both then and now – that he was one of the key people who were responsible for it happening.
Olaudah is, therefore, one of the many people who are often reflected on during Black History Month. He isn’t just a symbol of strength and courage, but also an example of the ways in which people of colour have helped – and indeed continue to help – shape this world for the better.