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Psychology & SocietyTwelve Years a SlaveSolomon NorthupTwelve Years a Slave

Twelve Years a Slave

Solomon Northup

Psychology & SocietyEnglish
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Solomon Northup was a free Black man, a husband, father and violinist living in Saratoga Springs, New York. In 1841 two men offered him work with a…

Catalogue details

Author
Solomon Northup
Category
Psychology & Society
Language
English
Source
Project Gutenberg

About this book

Solomon Northup was a free Black man, a husband, father and violinist living in Saratoga Springs, New York. In 1841 two men offered him work with a travelling circus and took him to Washington, where he was drugged, chained and sold into slavery. Renamed Platt, he spent twelve years on plantations in Louisiana, picking cotton and cutting sugar cane under masters both kind and brutal, until a Canadian carpenter agreed to carry a letter north for him.

Context and significance

Written with the help of a white lawyer, David Wilson, the narrative was published in 1853, months after Northup regained his freedom, and sold widely as the quarrel over slavery grew fiercer. Historians value it for its precise detail about plantation life, and the 2013 film based on it won the Oscar for Best Picture. Northup dedicated it to Harriet Beecher Stowe; read it with her Uncle Tom's Cabin.

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