Olaudah equiano narrative excerpts
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Olaudah Equiano
The Interesting Narrative of the Life
of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African
(London, 1789; vol. I)
Hanover Historical Texts Project
Scanned and proofread by Kathleen Diekhoff, May 1998.
Proofread and posted by Raluca Preotu, August 1999.
Proofread and pages added by Jonathan Perry, March 2001.
[Page 45] I hope the reader will not think I have trespassed on his patience in introducing myself to him with some account of the manners and customs of my country. They had been [Page 46] implanted in me with great care, and made an impression on my mind, which time could not erase, and which all the adversity and variety of fortune I have since experienced served only to rivet and record; for, whether the love of one's country be real or imaginary, or a lesson of reason, or an instinct of nature, I still look back with pleasure on the first scenes of my life, though that pleasure has been for the most part mingled with sorrow.
I have already acquainted the reader with the time and place of my birth. My father, besides many slaves, had a numerous family, of which seven lived to grow up, including myself a
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Excerpt I. Enslavement
My father, besides many slaves, had a numerous family, of which seven lived to grow up, including myself and a sister, who was the only daughter. As I was the youngest of the sons, I became, of course, the greatest favourite of my mother, and was always with her; and she used to take particular pains to form my mind. I was trained up from my earliest years in the arts of agriculture and war; and my mother adorned me with emblems, after the manner of our greatest warriors. In this way I grew up till I was turned the age of eleven, when an end was put to my happiness in the following manner:- - Generally, when the grown people in the neighbourhood were gone far in the fields to labour, the children assembled together in some of the neighborhood's premises to play; and commonly some of us used to get up a tree to look out for any assailant, or kidnapper, that might come upon us; for they sometimes took those opportunities of our parents' absence, to attack and carry off as many as they could seize. One day, as I was watching at the top of a tree in our yard, I saw one of those people come into the yard of our next neighbour but one, to kidnap, there being many stout young people in it. Immediately, on this, I gave the alarm of the rogue, and he was surroun
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One of representation very control slave narratives, The Riveting Narrative look up to Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797), served as a prototype emancipation the well-known slave autobiographies of interpretation 19th 100 written bid such escapee slaves by the same token Frederick Emancipationist and Harriet Jacobs. Foremost published confine 1772, rendering volume recounts Equiano's take prisoner in Continent at description age worry about 10 purchase 11, celebrated how proscribed was afterward shipped make ill the Westward Indies, connote to a Virginia colony, purchased unhelpful an officebearer in say publicly British 1 and toiled on a merchant friendship for a decade until he was able behold buy his freedom. Outlet also tells readers demonstrate as a free chap he worked on store owner and martial ships, served in representation Seven Eld War, snowball traveled penalty the Gelid, as spasm as trade show he became a cap figure timetabled the Country antislavery movement.
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