Olaudah Equiano

OLAUDAH

• Olaudah Equiano was born 1745 in what is now known as Nigeria
• He was the youngest of five boys and he also had a younger sister
• He was a slave who bought his freedom
• He only lived to be 52 years old and died in 1797

OLAUDAH

• When Olaudah was 11 he and his sister were kidnapped and taken aboard a ship to become slaves
• During his journey he was almost adopted by a family who treated him as a son
• He sailed across the sea and was beat for not eating
• Olaudah Equiano wrote about the beauty of the ocean despite his hardships, he described the journey to the new world as a nightmare
• He and his sister were separated when different masters bought them

OLAUDAH

• Olaudah was bought by a British military officer and he served in war
• After serving that master Olaudah was sold to a Quaker merchant
• The Quaker merchant allowed Olaudah to trade on his own account
• He even let Olaudah buy his freedom in 1767

OLAUDAH

• After Olaudah bought his freedom he settled in England
• He worked and traveled for another twenty years as a seafarer ,and merchant.
• He also explored in the Caribbean,Arctic,American Colonies, South and Central America, and the United Kingdom
• In London Equiano met a girl named Susannah Cullen and they fell in love and got married on April 7 1792
• They had two daughters named Anna Maria and Joanna

OLAUDAH

• Olaudah died in 1797 ( 1745-1797)
• And Susannah died in 1796
• Anna Maria died in 1797 (1793-1797)
• Joanna died in 1857 (1795-1857)