Equiano was taken at a young age and brought into slavery. By the end of his career he was in attempts to abolish slavery. How does one gain this power? What experiences does one go through to build up the courage to defeat such a prominent way of life? Equiano watched many slaves be sold, beaten, starved, killed, and commit suicide. The only way to get out of that lifestyle was to buckle down and work out way up. His hard work ethics passed him around from owner to owner before he was able to buy his own freedom and was released on good behavior. From there he found trade jobs,

Equiano’s goal is to make sure no one suffered the way he did and the way he watched other people. He did not have it half as bad as the slaves around him. He uses his position as a former, now free, slave to educate the public and higher figures in attempts to eliminate the problem. “The oppression and cruelty exercised to the unhappy negroes there, have at length reached the British legislature, and they are now deliberating on its redress; even several persons of property in slaves in the West Indies, have petitioned parliament against its continuance, sensible that it is as impolitic as it is unjust—and what is inhuman must ever be unwise.” (Equiano 150) He wants to assure freedom for all, because he knows the struggles.