Impact of Olaudah Equiano on the New World

1205 Words3 Pages

In what ways did the interactions of Africans and Europeans create a “New World”? meaning what kind of impact did Olaudah Equiano make towards his surrounding and vice versa? Olaudoh Equiano projected a new world where both Africans and Europeans could advance if they would rid of racial prejudice and just honestly work together. But before we get into how the interactions of Africans and Europeans created a “New World”, we must first learn what kind of person Olaudoh Equiano was.
Olaudoh Equiano was born in 1745, he was also known as Gustavus Vassa (his slave name). He was captured and enslaved as a child in his home town of Essaka (located in Africa). Equiano worked as an author, a merchant, a seafarer and a hairdresser. He was shipped to the West Indies and then moved to England where he successfully purchased his freedom and eventually settled in 1792. He married an English woman and had two children. Equaino wrote an autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, which depicts the horrors of slavery and tells Equiano’s story as a slave and the road to freedom in the New World.
The major creation of the New World I believe is centered around the destructiveness of the slave trade. Equiano's life is a testament to how terrible the slave trade was for him and others. For example, being “cargo” on a slave ship was a terrifying experience for Equiano. He says, “I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life; so that with loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste anything. I now wished for the last friend, Death…” (55-56).
Af...

... middle of paper ...

...no and many other slaves worked aggressively, morning to night, no pay, insufficient food and water, barely any shelter and very little clothing. This “New World” that Equiano had been forced into had already been created before him. The addition of African-American slaves was what transformed an average country into the “New World”. The violence, racism, and the whole ordeal of the slave trade brought on new things in and outside of people that wasn’t really there before. It brought out the devils in slave owners (although not all of them were horrific) and it also brought out a new level of desperation in the slaves, to the point where they welcomed death and hoped there would not be a tomorrow for them. The creation of the “New World” had an evil beginning but despite all odds, Equiano created for himself a gratifying end that would influence other slaves.

Open Document