Question

Indeed such were the horrors of my views and fears at the moment, that, if ten thousand worlds had been my own, I would have freely parted with them all to have exchanged my condition with that of the meanest slave in my own country. When I looked round the ship too and saw a large furnace or copper boiling, and a multitude of black people of every description chained together, every one of their countenances expressing dejection and sorrow, I no longer doubted of my fate; and, quite overpowered with horror and anguish, I fell motionless on the deck and fainted.
The Story -------------------------------------------------------------------
The Question
Why do you think Equiano might have preferred to be a slave in his own country?

Answer 1

When Equiano boarded the slave ship and saw the condition of the other captives, he realized that his fate would be similar to theirs. He knew that he was being taken away to a faraway land, where there would be more misery and more uncertainty. He felt that, if given the opportunity, he would have preferred the life of a slave in his homeland, where he was familiar with the territory, people, and language. The fear of the unknown was overpowering for him.

Answer 2

Slavery was different in the new world since they were not treated as people but as animals and in his home country he knew how slavery worked and how slaves were actually treated as people. He would be a slave at his own home gladly compared to this because he sees the horror around him and the way that the white people are intimidating and completely different from anything he had ever seen.