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: "From the time of my marriage to this day the love I have borne my wife has been sincere and unabated; and only those who have felt the glowing tenderness a father cherishes for his offspring, can appreciate my affection for the beloved children which have since been born to us" (22). We see from this passage that Solomon is a loving devoted husband and father. He understands the relationship between a father and his children. Solomon appears through this writings to have been a good father. Solomon has the good luck of purchase by William Ford who through these writings portrayed as a good master. Eliza, another slave the Ford purchases, has a daughter named Emily. Ford sees the agony Eliza is in over the separation from her child and is willing to buy her even though he does not need her. Freeman refuses all offers for the child but buys Eliza knowing that she will be separated from the child whether he buys her or not. On their trek to Master Fords home he allows them the opportunity to sit and rest when needed. Ford, who is on horseback, understands and has compassion for his slaves who must make the journey on foot. On the way, they stop at homes where the slaves receive proper amounts of good food and given good opportunities to rest. Master Ford seems to look on his slaves as humans more than animals. On the Sabbath Master Ford "would gather all his slaves about him, and read and expound the Scriptures" (Northup 97). Much as a father, during the era, woul... ... middle of paper ... ...als like the plow horse or mule for field use. "In the estimation of the owner, a slave is the most serviceable when in rather a lean and lank condition, such a condition as the race-horse is in" (Northup 201). In Northup's own words "There my be humane masters, as there certainly are inhuman ones - there may be slaves well-clothed, well-fed, and happy, as there surely are those half-clad, half-starved and miserable" (207). Slave owners as a father figure would be far from the description that Solomon would have given or agreed upon in his time in servitude. Slave owners as good or bad owners of animals would be a much better description of the relationship between a slave and a master. Even in the worst accounts of parental abuse, it is rare that the child is kept like an animal to serve the parents needs and work to for them to just be allowed to stay alive.
For example, Northup introduces the reader to a slave named Eliza Berry, who was forced to become her master’s lover, as well as to live with him on the condition that she and her children would be emancipated (25). This exemplifies how white men would use their status to sexually harass their female slaves, while avoiding the consequences because no one would believe them, and they were threatened with being whipped if they uttered a word. In addition, Northup introduces another female slave named Patsey, and he states, “Her back bore the scars of a thousand stripes; not because she was backward in her work, nor because she was of an unmindful and rebellious spirit, but because it had fallen to her lot to be the slave of a licentious master…” (116). Overall, this quote corroborates how severe their masters would penalize them both physically and mentally, as well as how unfair they were to
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...
Twelve Years a Slave is a narrative written by Solomon Northup. After conducting research, the story was told to, written, and edited by David Wilson, a white lawyer and legislator from New York. The book is based on Solomon Northup who was a citizen of New York and a freeman. He was kidnapped in Washington City in 1841 and the book tells the tale of his years as a slave from the time of his kidnapping to when he was rescued in 1853. The first two chapters, Northup tells about his family. Little is known about his mother and he does not identify her by name, but his father, Mintus, was enslaved in Rhode Island by the Northup family. Mintus was freed after the family moved to New York. Solomon, as a young man, helped his father with chores around the farm and worked as a raftsman as told by in his narrative. Solomon tells about his marriage to Anne Hampton, a mixed woman, who he identifies as being of several different ethnicities (white, black, and Native American). He married Anne Hampton on Christmas Day in 1829 and has had three children with her.
Solomon had the unique experience of being a free man for decades before being captured and enslaved, and that greatly challenges proslavery claims made by the Southern whites stating that slaves could never survive on their own without them. Solomon’s first owner, William Ford, could be compared to proslavery claims of how well slaveholders treat their slaves. Ford treated his slaves well and Solomon believed if Ford had grown up under different influences, he would not be a slaveholder at all because he was such an honorable man. Solomon’s second master, John Tibeats, was the complete opposite image of what proslavery southerners were trying to prove. “He was ignorant, withal, and of a revengeful disposition…Certain it is, it was a most unlucky day, for me that brought us together”. Solomon was barely allowed to have any rest, worked long hours, and was never spoken to politely by Tibeats. Harriet Jacobs also had similar experiences as Solomon, but was even more oppressed than others because she was a woman. Jacobs was sexually exploited by her master for years and treated like she was property. There was not one recollection of Harriet Jacobs experiencing anything enjoyable about slavery; only suffering and punishment which threatens proslavery claims. Many slaves tried to challenge the notion of slavery by escaping or fighting back. Solomon fought back by whipping
“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,
Northup, Solomon. (1853). Twelve Years a slave: Narrative of Solomon Northrup, a Citizen of New York,
Solomon Northup otherwise known as “Platt” of Twelve Years a Slave encounters many individuals that play a remarkable role in his life of a slave. Northup originally being a free man who is tricked and eventually sold into slavery down south. He encounters so called “kind” and cruel masters throughout. The underlining cause on how a master treated the slaves really seemed rely on their placement in society. The “kind” characters seemed to have their role in society figured out for example; William Ford: a well off man who owned a lumber business (60) and Samuel Bass: a hired hand by Edwin Epps who supervised Northup at one point. Cruel owners who engaged with deep anger and actions seemed to be fueled power struggles and or unhappiness within
Douglass’s first encounter with a slave owner’s violence occurred on Captain Anthony’s farm. He frequently found himself woken by the agonizing screams of his own aunt being brutally whipped for her wrongdoings. He describes Captain Anthony as ruthless, brutal and taking “great pleasure in whipping a slave” (Douglass 3). Captain Anthony reveled in the idea of complete dominance over his slaves. He lived under an overseer, named Mr. Plummer. The slaves living on the farms were not fully under his control, so he took advantage of every opportunity to feel powerful and domineering. In addition, Douglass also describes an encounter involving Aunt Hester seeing another man. Captain Anthony did not approve of this and exclaims “I’ll learn you how to disobey my orders!” (Douglass 4), then proceeded to whip her. Douglass hints towards the sexual tension between Anthony and Hester. Not only did he own her for work, but also to satisfy his sexual desires.
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 ...
Have you ever wondered about what people went through during slavery for a long period of time? In 12 Years a Slave, it talks about a certain person’s point of view and their history. 12 Years a slave is one of the most detailed slave narratives that was written by Solomon Northup and published in 1853. When the book got published, it brought many problems, since it named several slave owners and the things that they would do with their slaves. The purpose of the book was to fight slavery and terminate it completely, not only that, also to expose those who supported slavery and to show what actually happened throughout the twelve years.
As a free man in a world where blacks were either in jail or in slavery, Northup was indeed lucky. However, his fortunes turned when two men approached him and offered him substantial payment to join their travelling music show (Northup 29). Unknown to Northup, the two white men intended to drug him and sell him as a slave. They were successful and soon Northup found himself a slave despite having papers at home to prove that he was a free man. For 12 years, Northup served under a number of masters in the south, some of whom were utterly cruel and some whose humanism he admired. Eventually, he came into contact with an abolitionist who contacted his family who were then able to send a state agent to reclaim him.
...eet Home. He realized that he and the other slaves had all “been isolated in a wonderful lie” (p.221). He finally comes to the conclusion that life was really was not better under Mr. Garner. He was a slave both under Mr. Garner and under Schoolteacher. The only difference is that under Schoolteacher he had an identity.
He says, “my ancestors on the paternal side were slaves in Rhode Island. –On the death of this gentleman, which must have occurred some fifty years ago, my father became free, having been emancipated by a direction in his will”(Northup 5). It proves him to inherit his spirit from his father because he knows how his father leads a tough life and how glad his father realizes when he converts free. Also, the experience makes him keep having the strong feeling that he tries to escape from the situation of the slave. Next, when Herny B. Northup, a white attorney in the Northern States, comes and identifies Solomon for helping. At the time he says, “I heard the words, ‘the says Solomon Northup,’ and ‘the deponent further says,’ and ‘free citizen of New-York,’ repeated frequently” (94). The occurrence is recognized that he has a position in the Northern States because if he does not be a high position person, Herny may not perceive him. Furthermore, he can keep his stable spirit the reason why his relationship with Henry. He tries to write a letter to Herny and wait for a long time so it means in his mind, he most trusts Herny that he rescue Solomon and this indicates, he can
It is clear that the master slave relationship was generally one of fear, tension and dominion. The slave had no rights over himself and was expected to be subject to the master in all things. As with the every rule, there weress exceptions to this trend. Some masters treated their slaves with exceptional kindness and humaneness.
The article “I-Love-You” by Robert Solomon ticked me to the point I felt frustrated, puzzling my mind with a melange of different thoughts about love. Holding the same perception with him, I was in love with the article – how subtle the words are, how every sentence spoke right out of my mind and how careful the arrangements of the points are for you to be convinced by his principles of love. If I could briefly describe his article, I would say it’s ‘the harsh truth’. However, not all of his dogmatic proclaimations about love I give nods on - some of the ideas he presented looked rather from the thoughts of a depressed mind and some came outright untrue, but some did piqued my interest to the point I would embed his quotations and keep it