The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African
Olaudah Equiano — The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African (1789)Olaudah Equiano · 1789 · Book · ch. 1DisputedSource attached · not independently reviewedCLM-0390 · as of 2026-10-27 · about: Igbo village polities (pre-colonial south-eastern Nigeria) · Author: Polity Atlas editorial team
“Equiano's 1789 description of his native Igbo village, governed by 'the chiefs or elders of the place', is a first-hand account.”
Context. Carretta found baptismal and naval records giving Equiano's birthplace as South Carolina; others defend the African account. The description of elder-based government is consistent with later ethnography either way.
Evidence that supports
1Evidence that contradicts
1Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa? New light on an eighteenth-century question of identity
Vincent Carretta — Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa? New light on an eighteenth-century question of identity (1999)Vincent Carretta · 1999 · ArticleStatus history
No earlier revisions.
Disputes
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