The experience of Olaudah Equiano shows how British power in North America thrived by robbing Africans of worth while profiting off their labor. His autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, exposes a harsh truth: colonists viewed Black people not as human beings but as profitable assets to boost riches through transatlantic commerce. Starting with abduction from home, followed by grueling voyages, auction blocks, and endless labor, profit drove every violent phase, as seen through eyes that endured it. This narrative reveals how colonial systems turned living souls into tradable goods, ranked individuals by complexion, and justified harm through profit motives, rewarding abuse without shame. It emphasizes how empire, fueled by desire for gain, normalized brutality over time.

Equiano starts by showing how slavery shattered communities throughout Africa. Taken away from his family, he was shuffled between hands like an object, examined closely to determine his price in the market. This instant became the starting point of a setup meant to wipe out one’s identity, changing people into goods for sale. Across the British colonies, treating humans as countable items was key to ensuring their economic system kept running smoothly. According to Digital History’s “Slavery in Colonial North America”, slavery across English North America didn’t start simply due to hate, but from a demand for labor, as “Slavery was widely used in agriculture—in raising tobacco and corn and other grains—and in non-agricultural employment—in shipbuilding, ironworking, and other early industries.”[1] Equiano's words match this reality exactly, showing the violence wasn’t random; instead, it was a part of a calculated business model, an industry where African lives were used as raw power for expansion.

The harsh voyage over the ocean makes it obvious that profit drove every decision. Boats packed masses inside, hundreds chained down, stuck breathing filth, dropping dead in groups during the crossing. Yet in one striking example, he recalls “On the passage we were better treated than when we were coming from Africa, and we had plenty of rice and fat pork.”[2] This slight improvement in food and conditions, though seemingly humane, had nothing to do with compassion. By the time Equiano was being transported between colonies, he had become an investment whose survival affected the enslavers' profits. English merchants only improved conditions when it benefited them financially, highlighting how colonial slavery’s principles valued bodies as resources rather than living beings.

Over in the colonies, this system grew tougher as years went by. Equiano observed that enslaved people’s treatment depended on their productivity or what they might bring in profit-wise. He noted that when people died or got ill, masters tallied expenses and showed little concern, treating such events like broken equipment rather than human tragedy (Equiano, Chapter V). Digital History’s “The Origins of New World Slavery” explains that by the late seventeenth century, English colonies had institutionalized this practice through laws defining Africans and their descendants as permanent property.[3] These rules ensured forced labor stayed constant and profitable, tying racialized servitude tightly to colonial cash flow. In this sense, English settlement didn’t simply rely on slavery; it thrived because of it, with plantations, trade and even religious institutions, resting on exploited Black labor.

Later, Equiano leans into faith, not just following rules but feeling a shift in what feels fair or cruel. Since he began trusting Christian teachings more, he noticed how slaveholders flipped them, claiming salvation while treating people as worthless. This insight exposes a contradiction at the heart of English colonial ideology: moral and religious claims went hand in hand with violence and greed. This hypocrisy resembled the empire’s overall practices, using Christianity and holy books to claim power over others, while ignoring its teachings about love and mercy at the heart. From this perspective, Equiano’s quiet belief becomes resistance. He lines up true values such as justice and care in contrast to pretend morals propped up by profit from pain.

The story Equiano tells reaches beyond his own life. His journey doesn’t just link Africa, the Americas, and Europe by the way of slavery; it exposes how money bloomed from suffering. Rather than painting Britain’s empire as progress, it forces eyes open to what built it: lives taken. Yet when he wrote those words in London, something shifted. Who watched who changed; he wasn’t looked at anymore, now he looked. With stories and real-life proof, he pulled influence closer. In fact, watching him grow into a voice for change proved those crushed by systems can reclaim their say, so long as they challenge the ideas meant to silence them.

In the end, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano proves that slavery wasn’t just an accidental byproduct of English colonial power; instead, it sat right at its core. Since Equiano illustrates clear scenes, we witness how brutality was justified through economic benefit while faith was twisted to back greedy goals. The Digital History sources confirm that the English colonial system’s growth depended  on slave labor for economic expansion and imperial power. When ship conditions marginally changed, Equiano stresses this shift didn’t stem from compassion; it was motivated by cold financial logic, exposing a corrupt heart inside the empire. His own life story continues to strip away the false balance between morals and earnings that defined British rule abroad, casting long shadows on racial ties around the Atlantic world.