The Interesting Narrative of Life of Olaudah Equiano

by Equiano, Olaudah; Costanzo, Angelo

• ISBN13: 9781551112626
• ISBN10: 1551112620
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-02-01
• Publisher: Broadview Pr

Summary

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself was the first work that influenced the nineteenth-century genre of slave narrative autobiographies. Written and published by Equiano, a former slave, it became a prototype for those that followed. Kidnapped in Africa as a child, Equiano was transported to the Caribbean and then to Virginia, bought by a Quaker shipowner, and placed in service at sea. Aboard various American and British ships, he sailed throughout the world, and he continued to do so after having purchased his freedom in 1766. Once settled in London, he fought tirelessly to end slavery. This edition of Equiano's Narrative places the text in the center of abolitionist activity in the late eighteenth century. Equiano knew many of the leading abolitionist figures of his time, and this edition allows readers to trace the common ideas and cross-influences in the works of the political and literary figures who fought for the end of slavery in America and England. The original 1789 text of the narrative has been used for the Broadview edition with Equiano's subsequent emendations included in the appendices.

Table of Contents

Preface	7	(2)
Introduction	9	(21)
Olaudah Equiano: A Brief Chronology	30	(6)
A Note on the Text	36	(3)
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself	39	(290)
Appendix A: Letters and Reviews
1. Letters and Reviews Added to Later Editions of The Interesting Narrative	255	(7)
2. Reviews of The Interesting Narrative Not Included in Equiano's Editions	262	(5)
i. The Analytical Review, May 1789	263	(1)
ii. The Gentleman's Magazine, June 1789	263	(1)
iii. The Oracle, 25 April, 1792	264	(1)
iv. The Star, 27 April, 1792	265	(2)
Appendix B: Writings of the First Abolitionist Movement
1. A Caution to Great Britain and her Colonies (1766)	267	(2)
Anthony Benezet
2. Some Historical Account of Guinea (1771)	269	(2)
Anthony Benezet
3. An Account of the European Settlements in America (1758)	271	(1)
Edmund Burke
4. An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, Particularly the African (1788)	272	(3)
Thomas Clarkson
5. ``The Negro's Complaint'' (1788)	275	(1)
William Cowper
6. Letters from an American Farmer (1782)	276	(3)
J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur
7. Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species (1787)	279	(2)
Quobna Ottobah Cugoano
8. An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa (1788)	281	(4)
Alexander Falconbridge
9. An Answer to the Rev. Mr. Clarkson's Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, Particularly the African (1789)	285	(2)
Gilbert Francklyn
10. ``On the Slave Trade'' (1790)	287	(2)
Benjamin Franklin
11. A Narrative of the Most Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw (1772)	289	(2)
James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw
12. Scriptural Researches on the Licitness of the Salve-Trade (1788)	291	(2)
Raymund Harris
13. ``Of National Characters'' (1753-54)	293	(1)
David Hume
14. Notes on the State of Virginia (1787)	294	(3)
Thomas Jefferson
15. A Narrative of the Lord's Wonderful Dealings with John Marrant, a Black (1785)	297	(1)
John Marrant
16. Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade (1788)	298	(2)
John Newton
17. Britain's Commercial Interest Explained and Improved (1757)	300	(4)
Malachy Postlethwayt
18. An Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Salves in the British Sugar Colonies (1784)	304	(2)
James Ramsay
19. A Vindication of the Address, to the Inhabitants of the British Settlements, on the Slavery of the Negroes in America (1773)	306	(3)
Benjamin Rush
20. Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho (1782)	309	(1)
Ignatius Sancho
21. A Representation of the Injustice and Dangerous Tendency of Tolerating Slavery (1769)	310	(3)
Granville Sharp
22. Cursory Remarks upon the Reverend Mr. Ramsay's Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the Sugar Colonies (1785)	313	(3)
James Tobin
23. An Apology for Negro Slavery (1786)	316	(2)
Gordon Turnbull
24. Thoughts upon Slavery (1774)	318	(3)
John Wesley
25. The Speech of William Wilberforce...on the Question of the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1789)	321	(3)
William Wilberforce
26. ``A Poem on the Bill Lately Passed for Regulating the Slave Trade'' (1788)	324	(1)
Helen Maria Williams
27. A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790)	325	(1)
Mary Wollstonecraft
28. Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes (1754)	326	(3)
John Woolman
Select Bibliography	329