According to his autobiography, Olaudah Equiano, the son of a chief, was born in an African village called Easska. Equiano recalls his childhood in his village, where he had a simple life style, and carried on the tradition of being a "greatest warrior". But all this changed in one day, when he was around the age of eleven. Three strangers came into his house and seized him and his sister, while all the village people were out working in the fields. Equiano tells us that he and his sister were separated, and he was placed on board a slave ship with hundreds of black people who were chained together. Every one of them had a tragic facial expression. Many of these prisoners described by Equiano had poor health due to the harsh environment, and some had cuts and wounds that they received, during an attempt escape from ship. Equiano expected that he would be treated in the same way. During the ship's passage, there was no food or water. The closeness of the prisoners" bodies along with the heat of the climate made the air unfit to breath, as variety of loathsome smells filed the air. Many people became sick and some died. .
Despite the abuse on the ship, with the comfort of several countrymen, Equiano survived those horrible days and arrived at the new land. As he looked around him, everything just seemed so different to him, like the two stories houses that were built with bricks. Everything seemed to be a magical illusion. Shortly after he rested, he was pent up together with other slaves in the merchant's yard. Moments later, at the beat of a drum, buyers rushed at once into the yard and try to pick out the best slave who fit their needs. Many Equiano's relations and friendships were lost to him. The only thing on Equiano's mind was the memories of his "brothers" and a sense of wonder of why would any one in the world have such cruelty and cold-heartedness. .
Being the son of the chief, Equiano grew up in a place full of honor, pride and respect.