In 1841, criminals seduced a free black New Yorker named Solomon Northup into slave territory by the promise of a job. There, they illegally sold him as a slave. When he protested to the slave dealer that he was free, the dealer beat him. He would learn no to assert his freedom, but over the next twelve years he attempted to free himself on several occasions, all of which failed until the last, successful effort. On Northup's journey to Louisiana, he met Arthur and Robert who were also going to be sold as slaves. The three devised a plot whereas they would overtake the boat, kill if necessary, the captain and crew and guide the vessel back to New York. They “resolved to regain our liberty or lose our lives.” (46) This plot never came to fruition, as Robert became ill and died of smallpox. The three men had previously determined that the other slaves were not to be trusted, and they had to carry this out themselves. With Robert now deceased, there was no other choice but to forgo their attempt. Northup was purchased at the slave market to a planter named Ford. However, because of Ford's financial difficulties, he sold Northup to cover his debt. Northup was working with his new owner, who was very harsh. An argument ensued over the way Northup was planing. Tibeats began throwing axes and hatchets at Northup. Northup responded in a physical manner. It appeared as though, to save his own life, Northup would have to take Tibeats's, which would mean certain hanging for Northup. If a slave took his owner's life it was a capital offense. Instead he “leaped a fence near by, and hurried across the plantation,” thus making his first escape attempt (102). He was chased through the bayou and swamp by both men and dogs.... ... middle of paper ... ...behalf of the kidnappers, and Northup's own testimony being deemed inadmissible by the court, both led to the dismissal of the charges. By filing the suit, Northup was able to shine a light on “the burning sense of the wrong” they had inflicted upon him (251). Northup's nightmare of twelve years in slavery was over. He returned home to Connecticut. Northup's wife told him of a day his daughters arrived from school inconsolable. They had seen pictures of slaves in a cotton field being followed by an overseer with a whip. “It reminded them of the sufferings their father might be, and as it happened, actually was, enduring in the South.” (252) Twelve years in slavery, yet his family had “still held me in constant remembrance” (252). Northup and his family were finally free. Works Cited Northup, Solomon. Twelve Years a Slave. Louisiana University Press
The book 12 Years a Slave is an autobiography that chronicles the life of Solomon Northup. Northup was born free in the New York State but at the age of 33 is drugged, kidnapped and forced into slavery for 12 years. Northup was kidnapped during a time when the nation was split over slavery. In the North many African Americans were born free while in the South, African Americans were sold, kidnapped, or born into slavery. Northup was raised free but forced into slavery for 12 years were he suffered brutal beatings and torture at the hands of a cruel slave owner.
In the early 1800’s, the United States’ culture of slavery was fostered for a lifespan of forcible enslavement. For all Slaves, this was the normality which was callously endured. In his work, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, “An American Slave,” Frederick Douglass argues and exemplifies that his fate was destined outside of the walls of slavery.
I believe that the Fugitive Slave Law could be related to Northup being kidnapped. I think this because the slave trader Burch, told Northup to get his “free papers” so he would be able to show he was a free slave once they entered the slave states. I think Burch did so he could get Northup’s trust. Once drugged Bruch used the Fugitive Slave Law to say, that Northup was a run away slave and was taking him back to his master. Burch also beat Northup until he stopped talking about being a free man and from New York because selling a free man was a federal offense.
Blight, D. (2007). A slave no more: Two men who escaped to freedom: Including their own narratives of emancipation (1st ed., Vol. 1, pp. 1-313). Orlando, Florida: Harcourt.
Imagine that it is the year 1841 in Saratoga, New York and blossoms of the dogwood tree are swirling around your face as the wind gently tousles your hair. All seems well in the world, and, to Solomon Northup, great opportunities are coming his way. Two men, by the names of Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton, had offered a dream job to Solomon. They had asked him to join them in a circus, playing the fiddle, an instrument Solomon had mastered. However, these men were not as honest as they seemed. Brown and Hamilton later drugged and kidnapped Solomon at a hotel one night during the tour. These men successfully forced Solomon into twelve years of slavery.
Brown, William Wells. From Fugitive Slave to Free Man: The Autobiographies of William Wells Brown. 1st ed. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1996. Print.
The detail present in the narrative helps convey the tones of liberation and fear. Douglass recalls the “blessedness of freedom,” of not having to wonder if it will be a day of “life or death,” yet he was able to live and “succeed in reach{ing} New York without the slightest interruption.” Attaining freedom was the highest goal for Fredrick Douglass. As a slave each day he would wake up wondering if he would live to see tomorrow, due to his strength he was able to live on and succeed in reaching the safe state. However, once freedom was attained he felt as though he “had escaped a den of hungry lions” with “money loving kidnappers” causing him to “trust no man.” Douglass feels as though he is prey in this free state where kidnappers are awaiting to make some easy money and take him back to slavery.
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed by Congress as part of the Compromise of 1850 between the North and South. This act required that any and all escaped slaves were to be returned to their owners and that all officials and citizens were ordered to cooperate with this law. Anyone that did not follow this law would be condemned a criminal and subject to harsh punishment. Many states tried to counteract both of these laws by passing personal liberty laws. Solomon Northup is the most popular case; he was a freedman who was coaxed into going into Washington, D.C. and was kidnapped into slavery. Most northerners did not believe slavery nor did they believe the Fugitive Slave Act was ethically right. They saw black people more equal and believed
In Solomon Northup’s narrative, 12 years a slave, he shares a story of the horrors of his past that was a lifelong reality to many African Americans throughout American history. Northup, being a free man of Saratoga, New York, was stripped of his freedom and sold ‘down the river’ to the Bayou Boeuf of Louisiana and was bound to slavery for twelve years. Along with recounting the gruesome hardships and labor that he had to endure, Northup also gives detailed accounts of the lives of fellow slaves that he comes across, primarily, women. Northup’s narrative allows readers to see that the hardships that slave women experienced by far surpassed anything that a slave man could endure. Stripped of their families, beaten relentlessly and forever victims
Since Northup wrote this book himself, it was able to provide readers with the truth and the experiences of living as a slave in the South. The good experiences written about by Northup seemed to be few and far between in the story, but the moments were big. In the beginning of the story, he talked about being with his family and the experience of being a free black man in the North. Once his freedom and family were taken from him, the next good experience he spoke of was when he met friends, either on the boat rides or on the plantations. These friends, although he was once free and most of them were not, had many things in common with Northup, and they all had similar views on slavery. A third positive experience that Solomon wrote about was when the officials came to Ebbs’ plantation to take him back North to freedom, which Ebbs could not believe. Although Ebbs wasn’t happy about it, Solomon was excited to go back to the North and his family. Being reunited with his family after ...
First Slaves First Hope focuses mainly on Anthony Johnson. Johnson was captured in Angola by enemies and was sold as an indentured slave to a man working for a Virginia Company. Even as a slave, Johnson tried to gain his own freedom so that he could buy hundreds of acres of land and grow his own tobacco. Also, he somehow managed to “possess indentured servants of his own” (Nicholson 68). Because of possessing an indentured servant, Johnson would be considered a slaveholder.
Solomon Northup was one of the few that escaped the grasps of slavery. He wrote his own book, 12 Years a Slave, and even had a movie crea...
One of the amazing things about the story is the level of description and imagery that Douglass uses to describe the suffering around him. The excerpt spans a mere three days, but most of the text focuses on his abuse and battle with Mr. Covey. Douglass skips over the common parts of his life to further his case against slavery. By doing this, the Northerners rea...
Battling for liberty through physical, mental, and spiritual crises in slavery, Frederick Douglass serves as one of the most significant and influential abolitionists in America’s history. His personal narrative provides an insightful and convincing argument against slavery and its fraudulent religious justifications. The narrative is captivating as it invokes the need to abolish slavery by telling of his struggles from infancy until young adulthood in slavery without directly calling for an abrupt end to the inhumane practice of bondage. Although Douglass did not give exact details of his self-liberation and his narrative contained grammatical and syntax errors, he achieved his purpose of exposing the American slave system and encouraging
In his true-life narrative "Twelve Years a Slave," Solomon Northup is a free man who is deceived into a situation that brings about his capture and ultimate misfortune to become a slave in the south. Solomon is a husband and father. Northup writes: