Twelve Years a SlaveSolomon Northup was born a free black man in upstate New York in 1808. By 1841, he had become a husband, a father, a raftsman, and a talented fiddle-player. That year, while his family was away, he agreed to accompany two men to Washington DC, on what he thought would be a brief trip performing for a circus. Instead, these new employers turned out to be con men, and Northup was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery. Northup was transported to New Orleans and remained a slave for the next twelve years, working for a number of masters in Louisiana--some brutal, some kind. Although Northup never stopped longing for home and thinking about how he could escape, it seemed impossible to trust anyone with the facts of his life. He remained a slave for a dozen years, until he finally met a Canadian abolitionist who was able to get a letter to his family and eventually gained his freedom. After his release, Northup told his story to David Wilson, an upstate New York-based white lawyer and legislator. Northup's memoir, edited by Wilson, was published in 1853 as Twelve Years A Slave. Northup's story and his firsthand observations of plantation life and the cruel reality of slavery make this book an important document of the American south and American history. |
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acquainted Anne Northup appearance arrival Aunt Phebe Bass Bayou Bœuf Big Cane Boeuf Burch cabin called Chapin Cheneyville colored corn cotton field dance deponent dogs door Edwin Epps Eliza Emily entered eyes fear feet Ford's Fort Edward free citizen freedom Freeman Glens Falls ground hand heard heart Holmesville Huff Power hundred Jim Burns knew labor lash length letter liberty living looked Louisiana manner Marksville Master Epps Master Ford miles Mintus Northup morning mule never New-Orleans New-York nigger night overseer parish of Avoyelles pass Patsey piazza Pine Woods plantation planter Platt Radburn reached Red River resided Sandy Hill Saratoga Shekels side slave pen slavery Solomon Northup soon standing sugar swamp thought Tibeats tion Uncle Abram utter violin voice Waddill walked Washington Washington county WASHINGTON HUNT whip wife Wiley yard