Biography of Olaudah Equiana (1745-1797), the former slave who, in his day, was the English-speaking world's most renowned person of African descent. His greatest legacy is his 1789 autobiography, "The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African." A key document of the early movement to ban the slave trade, this classic includes the earliest known firsthand description by a slave of the horrific Middle Passage from Africa to the Americas. The author argues that Equiano may have been born in South Carolina and possibly fabricated his African roots and his survival of the Middle Passage not only to sell more copies of his book but also to help advance the movement against the slave trade.

Note on money -- ch. 1. Equiano's Africa -- ch. 2. The Middle Passage -- ch. 3. At sea -- ch. 4. Freedom denied -- ch. 5. Bearing witness -- ch. 6. Freedom of a sort -- ch. 7. Toward the North Pole -- ch. 8. Born again -- ch. 9. Seeking a mission -- ch. 10. The Black poor -- ch. 11. Turning against the slave trade -- ch. 12. Making a life -- ch. 13. The art of the book -- ch. 14. A self-made man.

Aiso Library Black History month selection