Olaudah Equiano was a Nigerian-born slave who was kidnapped from his village and experienced the oppression of slavery. Equiano lived during the mid-late 18th century, which is characterized by the formation of and civil unrest within the American colonies as well as the increasing demand for African slaves. A large part of the controversy that came from Equiano’s work came from his display of appreciation towards his master’s treatment of him, despite him fully understanding the loss of freedom his slavery brought. Equiano eventually bought his freedom in 1776 for 40 pounds by running his own business while still completing his slave duties. Equiano published “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African, Written by Himself” in 1789 in London where he became an avid abolitionist. Equiano personifies slavery in a way never done before to expose it for the awful institution that it is, to promote the abolitionist movement, and to force slave-owners to acknowledge the cruelty of their actions.