Talk:Olaudah Equiano

message: The article says Equiano died on the 31th of March 1797, this is a date published in The gentleman's magazine
I 'd like to refer to Paul Edwards, EQUIANO'S TRAVELS, 1996.the editors introduction on page XXI  : " a few years later the editors of the 1809 (Belper) and the 1814 ( Leeds) editions do not know the date of his death. THe editor of 1809 gives it as 1801 and the editor of 1814 admits that he does not know..."Dorisjanminters (talk) 21:21, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Equiano's death

message: From the reading I have done it was Pascal not King who educated Equiano, no? (http://www.brycchancarey.com/equiano/biog.htm) & (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p276.html) HybridFusion 03:20, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Discussion

message: I am not a specialist on Olaudah Equiano, but I hope one who can correct this badly written article will read it. I shall not even go into the details, but the English is terrible, the grammar is appalling, the spelling is done in heist and furthermore, even the name of the title hero is shown in two different versions: Olaudah and Olandah.
In my sincere opinion articles like this, give Wikipedia a bad name. I wish I knew enough on the subject matter to edit it myself, but that is not the case. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ruskiman (talk • contribs) 15:07, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Quality of the article 

message: you did not state what language he spoke and what was his education about  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 148.100.224.129 (talk) 22:44, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I would agree to remove it from the article and leave it here instead. Zigzig20s 04:55, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

text: This text was plagiarized from http://www.brycchancarey.com/equiano/nativity.htm (Text © Brycchan Carey 2003-2005) It should be removed immediately.  However, because it is also one of the best sources examining the two sides of this issue, the article should have a link in the section that discusses Equiano's origin.Josh a brewer 07:26, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It can (and should be) be referred to by External link, in order to avoid copyright violation.Parkwells (talk) 21:23, 6 June 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Discussion text which makes the article read more like a student essay

message: I have moved chunks of this article around, with the intention of providing a straightforward account of his life, leaving material as to scholarly controversy to the end.  I have to confess that I know little of the subject and have undertaken this 'blind'.  I hope the result is an improvement.  I have not removed the cleanup and essay tags, because I do not feel qualified to do so, but hope there is some one else who can.  I hope the stylistic probelms are resolved, but not necessarily those of content.   Peterkingiron 14:36, 25 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Comment on my edit 

message: In the film, Amazing Grace, he refers to himself as someone who was born a prince in Africa.  What veracity is there to the claim that he was a prince?  Generally, what was the social status of his family background? Dogru144 15:16, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, sadly the film doesn't have much to do with history.  Equiano is made to stand in for all slaves synecdochically, be they African American, African Caribbean, or African Princes.  In other words, the film does not clear up whether or not Equiano was a prince from Africa or a pauper from South Carolina (though they do cleverly work in a reference to this as a strategy designed to silence him).  Incidentally, during Equiano's lifetime some people claimed that he was from the Caribbean, though he denied these accounts.Josh a brewer 07:25, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: A prince?

message: The section headed "Pioneer of the abolitionist cause" to some extent duplicates the earlier section with an account of his life - does someone who knows about the narrative he wrote want to give a better comment on it and leave the life-story to the earlier section? In common with earlier editors of this page I fear I'm coming at it blind, I hope my edits for clarity and grammar have improved things slightly. Euryanthe 12:01, 22 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Duplication 

message: Actually neither edit summary is really correct. The 1807 Act abolished slavery in British overseas colonies; to quote myself at Cesar Picton:
 "The status of slaves imported into England was legally ambiguous and unclear when Picton arrived, but they were certainly not regarded or treated in the same way as slaves in the British American colonies. The situation was clarified considerably by Somersett's Case of 1772, which although the details are unclear when analysed by lawyers, was generally taken to hold than no person could be a slave in England itself (confirming other reported judgements of 1567 and 1702). Many white apprentices and workers of the time would be classified as near-slaves, though in a time-limited way, by modern standards, and already most black servants seem to have been regarded and treated as free, at least by the time they reached adulthood.
- but there are odd cases of young boys being advertised for sale after 1772.  I will remove the reference, which is not really accurate if quoted correctly, & replace with a link to Somersett Johnbod 02:15, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: With the exception of blacks brought here as domestic servants by planters, there has never been slavery in England, at least not since the Norman period.  However, there were phenomena that may be mistaken for it: 
*Advertisements concerning apprenticing poor children, which was partly a means of providing for their maintenance and education.  
*The transportation of convicts, who arrived in America, and were sold as indentured servants for a term to pay for theri passage.  Peterkingiron 21:29, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Slavery in England 

message: Here are links that are useful for studying the slave trade, but either don't mention, or don't focus on, Equiano:
* Scotland and the Abolition of the Slave Trade - schools resource.
*Teaching resources about Slavery and Abolition on blackhistory4schools.com.
I've cut them from the page, but I'm reposting them here it case they're useful to someone else. --Yamara 19:45, 25 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Editing References and External links

message: A user named "Black plague" makes the following statement: "'Equiano' is how the man rendered his name in English in the 1700's, obviously in a time before the Igbo language had a standard written orthography. Ekwuano is how it's rendered in modern Igbo."  In response, I posit that the question is simply this: How does Equiano's name appear in his own writing and in secondary sources about him?  Cite a relevant secondary source that gives his name in the modern Igbo, and then we'll talk.Josh a brewer 09:54, 11 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Equiano's Igbo name 

message: "In addition to being a slave as a young man, he was also a slaver, seaman, merchant, and explorer in South America, the Caribbean, the American colonies, Britain, and the North Pole." He was an anti-slvery activist and a slaver? That makes no sense. Can anyone verify this?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Quaoarian (talk • contribs) 19:04, 18 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Not sure why, but someone removed the fact that Equiano traveled on an expedition to the North Pole and that he was a slaver in addition to being an anti-slavery activist later in his life.  Just thought I'd point out these omissions--well, deletions.  Josh a brewer 18:59, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Slaver? 

message: Should this article not contain some reference to the "Sons of Africa" - the lobby group that Equiano was part of?
The BBC mentions it briefly on their page ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/equiano_olaudah.shtml
ETis 23:54, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah, go ahead and add it! --JayHenry 00:41, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Missing references 

message: According to Equiano's narrative, he remained  [...]
the Thirty Years' War when Sweden and England were allies, sank within one nautical mile of the start of her maiden voyage in 1628.[clarification needed] The recovery attempts by the English engineers called in to assist proved fruitless; the ship was firmly stuck in the mud until 1961. During the period Equiano was enslaved by Pascal, the Seven Years' War had pitted Sweden against England and as a reference to the enemy's early 17th century flag ship Vasa, the name would have appeared mocking.
This badly truncated piece seems to imply that Equiano was named after the Swedish warship Vasa, which sank ignominiously in 1628. However, that ship was named for Gustavus Adolfus Vasa, a much later monarch than Gustavus Vasa.  Are there any references to the origin of his name (Gustavus Vasa) in the reference material? If not, this is speculation, and badly thought out, too.Anklefear (talk) 00:19, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Agree that this section seems to be missing text. War or no, the idea that his name was a mocking reference to a ship that had sunk more than 120 years previously would need some citation (as does the alternative attribution, to be honest). --GenericBob (talk) 03:46, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: His Swedish name can only refer to the the first king, (Gustav Vasa/Gustav I), and can not have had anything to do with the ship, which was NOT named after Gustav II Adolf (the grandson of Gustav Vasa), as that ship was known as "Vasen" (The Sheaf) until the early 20th century, when some decided to link the ship's name to the noble family and royal House of Vasa, which had a sheaf on their coat of arms. Thomas Blomberg (talk) 03:43, 28 August 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Incomprehensible Section 

message: "For instance, Acholonu claims in her book to have interviewed living respondents in the 1980s who remembered growing up with Equiano before his capture in the mid-18th century."
This makes no sense what so ever, is this true? A source please! -- Ukabia (talk) 01:11, 10 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  ??? 

message: This reads too much like a literary critical discussion.  I removed the names of scholars and left them in reference citations.  Tried to tone language to something more like an encyclopedia article.--Parkwells (talk) 19:24, 10 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Conversion section

message: he stop slavey  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.80.156.37 (talk) 18:43, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  things about olaudah equiano 

message: I noticed in the section titled "Early Life", the article says: "Olaudah Equiano was born in Alaska with Sandra Palin, an Igbo village in the kingdom of Benin..." This is clearly a mistake, possibly because of a "copy-paste" error, but Olaudah Equiano clearly was not born in Alaska.  66.82.9.82 (talk) 20:33, 10 December 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Vandalism. Span (talk) 13:57, 29 December 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Birthplace Mistake 

message: Portions of this section are incomplete, or simply confusing grammatically;
He enabled Equiano to buy his freedom, which he achieved by his early twenties.  King urged Equiano to stay on as a business.  For instance, while loading a ship in Georgia, he was almost kidnapped back into slavery. He was released after proving his education.  Equiano returned to Britain where, after the ruling in Somersett's Case of 1772, men believed they were free of the risk of enslavement. He was released in 1789.
--sorry, I don't know how to get the quote to wrap
"King urged Equiano to stay on as a business....." what?  I don't know if this was meant to read "business partner" but as it stands it makes no logical sense.
Then the next sentence begins with "For instance" when it does not follow at all the preceding sentence.
Ultimately the grammar is shaky at best - "men believed they were free" is a bit absurd, and "He was released in 1789" simply needs more information as it leaves all details obscure - from whom? by whom? by his own hand?  After having claimed that Equiano would eventually "buy his [own] freedom"... all subsequent references are done in passive voice - "was released" as if someone else was responsible for the act...
If someone who has the proper info can clean this section up, I do apologize for just pointing out the problems, but I do not know the subject well enough to make honest alterations. 174.70.128.122 (talk) 04:56, 29 December 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for flagging it up. It is the remnant of old vandalism from many months ago and terrible writing from an article that badly needs an overhaul. I have reinstated the original paragraph. Span (talk) 14:12, 29 December 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Release section 

message: Sometimes he is called Equiano, sometimes Vassa, often in the same section or paragraph. Should he be referred to as Vassa while he is a slave, or Equiano? Im really confused.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.200.34.230 (talk) 11:52, 19 October 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Name?

message: There were several things I noticed that were wrong with this page. I plan on adding a variety of wiki-links to words that the reader might need the definition too. I will also try to find reputable sources for all the places that indicate they need a citation. I will also change his name so he is referred to by the same name throughout the entire article. Lastly, the article states that his slave narrative was the first know slave narrative, and I don't think that is correct, so I am going to look more into it and correct it if necessary. 
Zem Mitchell (talk) 01:15, 3 November 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Additions  

message: Substituted at 01:46, 30 April 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Assessment comment

message: As I read the article, there are a lot of </ref> or <ref> in the article. I deleted those ones and improve other references. do you know who did this? If so, should this user or these users be blocked? -- Forever elementary student 3:55, 16 October 2017 (UTC)
thread_title: Prank

message: How is he Nigerian when there were no Nigerians in his lifetime since Nigeria didn't exist as a nation, state or country then? ~ Hairouna (talk) 14:54, 16 October 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi Hairouna, Thanks for your observation, I have removed the category from the article. Stanleytux (talk) 17:56, 16 October 2017 (UTC)
replies: text:  Thanks, Stanleytux! ~ Hairouna (talk) 21:07, 16 October 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Nigerian? 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Olaudah Equiano. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120716210428/http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/leisureandculture/greenplaques/ to http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/leisureandculture/greenplaques/
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 20:40, 14 December 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Several edits were made recently removing unsourced material, namely regarding specific sites in Africa related to Equiano. Upon examination of sources, they were not found to support the claims, or the claims are under dispute by other sources and scholars. If anyone has a different reading of the sources, please cite relevant quotations here. 
Psmith85 (talk) 22:26, 24 January 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Editor made mention of Carretta (who is discussed in the article) and other scholars. These seem to be reliable sources that substantiate the existence of a dispute.Ptb011985 (talk) 21:22, 7 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text:  User Stanleytux is making edits to talk page and attempting to erase the discussion. What happened to substantively answering the points? Drmies also seems dismissive of legitimate questions. Can we get a real discussion here? Ptb011985 (talk) 03:35, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Removing unsourced material 

message: Shouldn't this read "formerly enslaved" or "ex-slave" rather than "freed slave" since Equiano liberated himself through self-purchase? MassiveEartha (talk) 02:20, 26 January 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: thanks--I made a tweak. See what you think. If you don't like it, type it out better than I did! ;) Drmies (talk) 03:25, 26 January 2018 (UTC)
replies: text:  thanks for the feedback, made a couple of changes to the lead. MassiveEartha (talk) 05:17, 26 January 2018 (UTC)
thread_title: Lead - "freed slave"?

message: I check pages listed in :Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of :Olaudah Equiano's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.
Reference named "Lovejoy":
From Slavery: 
From Atlantic slave trade: Lovejoy, Paul E. Transformations in Slavery. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
From Osifekunde: 
I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT⚡ 02:56, 16 October 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Orphaned references in [[:Olaudah Equiano]] 

message: Please see halfway through paragraph 2 of the cited source: "The Church was rebuilt in 1957/1958 after it had been destroyed during WWII by a German V2 rocket on 25 March 1945". Martin of Sheffield (talk) 16:56, 9 April 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: I had seen that. However, you claimed that Equiano's burial place was lost then and that is not in the cited source. (Quite possibly it was lost within a generation of his burial) Nedrutland (talk) 17:06, 9 April 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: O, whatever. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 17:12, 9 April 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  V2 

message: Equiano was enslaved as a young man.He bought his freedom, and worked as an author and explorer in America. 41.113.186.196 (talk) 10:22, 21 June 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Olaudah Equiano 

message: I came across this reference to an African of the same name in a locally published book:
Look Back and Celebrate: the Story of Methodism in Wareham (2001, no ISBN), by Margaret James:
"Sometime in 1793 or early 1794, George Smith came from Poole to Wareham to hold an open air service on the Bowling Green near the north east wall. There he was faced by a violently hostile mob. Mud and stones were flung at him and his hymn book was knocked out of his hand but he was uninjured. A converted African, by the name of Gustavus Vassa, came to his defence almost as a bodyguard, and warded off the blows. Alas, nothing more is known about this interesting and unusual hero. Unfortunately, in the confusion, a young woman standing in the crowd with a little child was injured, and George Smith flew to her rescue and himself carried the child away to safety. When he got back to his lodgings he was still bespattered with mud. Subsequently, the ruffian stone had injured the young woman, and the other ring leaders were brought before the local magistrates, and George Smith appeared as a witness against them. He was called to pay part of the court dues. He had very little money on him but he emptied out his pockets. As the coins scattered on the floor there was not nearly enough and the people laughed and scoffed. However one of the magistrates took pity on him and told the whole Court that the Wesleyans had the right to protection in their worship and that he would, in future, be ready to to grant this. This magistrate was himself a clergyman. Perhaps he was the local rector and this could be an early foretaste of good ecumenical relations which developed in later years. George Smith never, as far as is known, returned to Wareham."
The account of the court proceedings seems to be taken from this source in an [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433082271945&view=1up&seq=19 obituary of George Smtih, which does not mention Gustavus. Otherwise, it's not possible to track the Gustavus reference in the book's end citations.
Any sources to confirm his identity and presence at this event? Shtove (talk) 14:29, 22 July 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Presence in Wareham, Dorset