Discussion: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African.

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African (Equiano, 1789), is an autobiography in which the author talks about his life as a slave across different countries since he and his sister were stolen from their village. At the beginning of the story, Equiano appears to imply that Africans were most responsible for the enslavement of fellow Africans because he was initially enslaved by Africans. As the story progresses, the reader gets clarity on the mechanism of the slave trade, where Africans played the role of middlemen working for the Whites and were blackmailed by incentives to provide slaves. Thus, whites are, for the most part, responsible for the enslavement of Africans.

Equiano’s story makes it clear that while Africans were responsible for capturing slaves, the Europeans demand for African slaves was the driving force that influenced African traders. The story talks about his first experiences as a slave, where he was captured by Africans and forced to work on various African plantations. The story goes on to recount how Africans traders collected slaves from various parts of Africa, delivering them at the coast to Europeans. Equiano’s transportation through various parts of Africa reveals that from the very beginning, the African traders were headed for the slave market at the coast. “Thus, I continued to travel, sometimes by land, sometimes by water, through different countries and various nations, till, at the end of six or seven months after I had been kidnapped, I arrived at the sea coast.” (Equiano, 1789, p.4). According to Equiano, he comes across other slaves from various parts of Africa who had been captured by other Africans. Upon arrival at the coast, he learns that he and others were being traded off so that they could go to work in Europe. “I inquired of these what was to be done with us; they gave me to understand we were to be carried to these white people’s country to work for them.” (Equiano, 1789, p.5).  Equiano mentions that he saw various foreign goods for the first time, (including European-style swords and crossbows), which his African captors received in exchange for handing him and others over to the Europeans. “…and had European cutlasses and crossbows, which were unknown to us…” (Equiano, 1789, p.5).

Conclusion

Overall, evidence from Equiano’s story supports the impression that Africans played a minimal role in the slave trade since they acted as middlemen for Europeans. First, Equiano informs us of the journey that he and others are taken through by their African captors. Throughout the journey, Equiano encounters others from various parts of Africa who had been captured and transported by fellow Africans. This shows that the middlemen gathered slaves from the interior parts of the continent, and took them to the coast where they were traded to Whites and shipped off to Europe. The European influence is made clear by the presence of various European goods at the coast, which were given to Africans in exchange for slaves. Through these accounts, it is revealed that the acquisition of African Slaves by other Africans was the first step in a long process, which ended with slaves being shipped off to white-owned plantations in Europe. This leads to the conclusion that Whites were the driving factor that facilitated the slave trade, which makes them responsible for the trade.

Reference

Equiano, O. (1789). Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself.