[Black Jacks: African American Seamen in the Age of Sail, by W. Jeffrey Bolster]

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OLAUDAH EQUIANO

"Among the most cosmopolitan of all slaves, seafarers like Olaudah Equiano and John Jea [not pictured] became leaders of various black communities and ardent abolitionists. Sailors, including Equiano and Jea, were among the earliest black autobiographers to write in English."

(photo caption)

Copyright © 1997 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
All rights reserved.


[Excerpts from Olaudah Equiano's autobiography are available on the Web.]


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Copyright © 2008 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved.