Early Map of West Africa

Figure 2.3: An early map depicting West Africa, an area that plays a critical part within Equiano's
work.

Finally, historians have identi ed The Interesting Narrative as an important source of information on Atlantic and slave life in the late 1700s. However, scholars continue to evaluate the veracity of the claims that Equiano makes within the work.

This debate o ers a window into how historians wrestle with the constructed nature of autobiographical texts. In particular, Equiano's birthplace has become a site of scholarly questioning. To introduce students to this debate it is suggested that they read excerpts from the work of Alexander X. Byrd, who makes an argument for the African origins of the Narrative, or Vincent Carretta, who contends that a South Carolina heritage might be closer to the mark.

Both of these scholars have marshaled ample evidence in defense of their claims and students can be asked to make their own determination at the conclusion of the readings. In addition, one interesting collection, Olaudah Equiano & the Igbo World (2009) presents a series of essays evaluating the Igbo heritage thesis.

This is also a general opportunity to describe how historians feel a need to approach every source from a critical perspective. The scholarly productions surrounding The Interesting Narrative are cutting-edge history in the truest sense and exposing students to these ideas can only enhance the classroom experience.

Bibliography
Berlin, Ira. Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America.

Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1998.
Bolster, W. Je rey. Black Jacks: African American Seamen in the Age of Sail. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1997.
Byrd, Alexander X. Eboe, Country, Nation, and Gustavus Vassa's Interesting Narrative. William and
Mary Quarterly LXIII (January 2006): 123-148.
Carretta, Vincent. Equiano the African: Biography of a Self-Made Man. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2005.
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999.
Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the
African. New York: William Durell, 1791.
Korieh, Chima, ed. Olaudah Equiano & the Igbo World: History, Society, and Atlantic Diaspora Connections. Trenton: Africa World Press, 2009.