In Chapter Six of his narrative he explains how he became a merchant,
trding first in tumblers and then Gin when travelling between Montserrat
and St Eustatia. He also traded in fruit.
In so doing he raised enough money to by his own freedom. There is no
mention of him buying slaves though.
all the best
Fabian
>
> I have not read anywhere that he traded on his own account. arthur
> Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2012 09:21:24 +0100
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: an equiano question and red tails plug
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> Dear Arthur
> Thank you for taking the time to explain. As we know Equiano traded on his
> own account - what I want clarity on is if he indeed "traded" in enslaves
> Africans on his own account, as opposed to for a "master" or employer?
> Regards
> Kwaku
> On 6 Jun 2012, at 09:10, arthur torrington wrote:This is a clearer
> explanation:
>
>
> Equiano was re-enslaved on 10th December 1762 and forcibly taken to
> Montserrat, where he worked for his master who was an enslaver of African
> men and women. Equiano's enslavement involved buying and selling
> Africans for his master Robert King, and he did so for three and a half
> years. After buying his freedom in 1766, he was asked to continue working
> for King, and did so for another year, then returned to England then. In
> 1775 as a free man, he worked for Dr Erving. In his autobiography
> (Chapter XI), Equiano says:
> 'I was happy once more amongst my friends and brethren, till November,
> when my old friend, the celebrated Doctor Irving, bought a remarkable fine
> sloop, about 150 tons. He had a mind for a new adventure in cultivating a
> plantation atJamaica and the Musquito Shore; asked me to go with him, and
> said that he would trust me with his estate in preference to any one. By
> the advice, therefore, of my friends, I accepted of the offer, ....'
> Equiano's employment was buying and selling Africans on behalf of Dr
> Erving. Equiano did not own slaves.
> But, thousands of free African men and women in the Americas and the West
> Indies enslaved Africans there. They lived in slave societies, and it was
> normal, because that was the civilisation Europeans created. To survive
> free Africans lived like some Europeans. That was how morally and
> spiritually corrupt very many free people (Africans and Europeans) became!
> arthur
>
>
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