'The Life of Olaudah Equiano'

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes a single passage from the slave narrative of Olaudah Equiano, entitled 'The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano', or 'Gustavus Vassa, the African'. In this paper, the author chose a passage from the text that highlighted the significant and intriguing economic argument that Equiano made against slavery and the slave trade in this autobiographical narrative.

From the Paper:

"I have sometimes heard it asserted that a negro cannot earn his master the first cost; but nothing can be further from the truth. I suppose nine tenths of the mechanics throughout the West Indies are negro slaves; and I well know the coopers among them earn two dollars a day; the carpenters the same, and oftentimes more; as also the masons, smiths, and fishermen, &c. and I have known many slaves whose masters would not take a thousand pounds current for them. But surely this assertion refutes itself; for, if it be true, why do the planters and merchants pay such a price for slaves? And, above all, why do those who make this assertion exclaim the most loudly against the abolition of the slave trade? So much are men blinded, and to such inconsistent arguments are they driven by mistaken interest!"

More papers on 'The Life of Olaudah Equiano':

• Book Review # 113679 : "Slavery and the "Life of Olaudah Equiano"
• Book Review # 108449 : "The Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa"
• Book Review # 149295 : "The Autobiography of Olaudah Equiano"

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