Slavery In Solomon North's Twelve Years A Slave

“Having been born a freeman, and for more than thirty years enjoyed the blessings of liberty in a free State-and having at the end of that time been kidnapped and sold into Slavery, where I remained, until happily rescued in the month of January, 1853, after a bondage of twelve years—it has been suggested that an account of my life and fortunes would not be uninteresting to the public.” Solomon North uttered these words shortly after being rescued from the wrongful capture and years of slavery. North was born a freeman, July 1808 in New York. He lived for thirty-four years in freedom, enjoying lives daily blessings. However, this happiness was cut short in 1841 when he was captured and sold into slavery. In the document, Twelve Years a Slave,

The number of slaves in the southern states increased on a daily basis and would continue until the abolishment of slavery. Picking cotton injured slaves; therefore, it was not a task that could be enjoyed because of the nature of the cotton. Cotton is a flower that has sharp bolls it was a tedious process that often times left slaves with scratched and sore hands. The picking of cotton along with a lack of good sleep and poor nourishment led to slave uprisings. In the movie, Twelve Years a Slave, the slaves are whipped every day if they do not beat the amount of cotton picked the day before or because of any disobedience. Whipping left slaves bloody and skin ripped to shreds; often the next day slaves were expected to continue working regardless of their condition. In the 19th century, there was not a wide availability of medicine to help treat infections and so the slaves were left to suffer. There was no concern for the overall well being of the slave’s lives and this was an issue that needed to be addressed. There were multiple routes that could have been taken to address the

The emancipation proclamation was signed in January of 1863 and stated, “that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states are, and henceforward shall be free.” With the proclamation came a new era in the history of the United States. For the first time since the establishment of the United States in 1776, slavery was outlawed and African Americans were given freedom from the harsh reality of the slave trade. However, even though the slaves were finally free, they still did not have the rights as white citizens of the time. It would be many years before equality would be reached between white citizens and African American citizens. Still to this day hatred exists between certain people from of these two groups based solely on the past and not on any actual personal experiences. Regardless, the slave trade was a cruel and unjust treatment of the African American people, however, slavery helped shape the United States, as we know it today. Without the institution of slavery in the southern states, they may have never gotten off the ground economically, possibly not even the United States as a nation in whole. The dependence on slavery in the early United States was astounding and leaves me to think about what could happen in the future if it was beneficial; Could something similar to