Best Selling Books by Solomon Northup

The story of Solomon Northup is a bizarre and incredible one. Born a free black in New York State in 1808, he was kidnapped in Washington, D.C., in 1841, and spent most of the next 12 years as a slave on a Louisiana cotton plantation. His years in this condition of servitude were filled with abuse, apprehension, and a profound fear for his life (he narrowly escaped lynching). Northup''s years in captivity are dramatically recounted here, as are his attempts to bring charges against the men who originally abducted him. An educated man when he entered slavery, Northup was able to write about the institution as both an outsider and as one of its victims. The result was an exceptionally detailed and accurate description of slave life and plantation society. A bestseller in its time, the work is a moving, vital testament to one of slavery''s ''many thousand gone'' who retained his humanity in the bowels of degradation.

12 Years a Slave Narrative of Solomon Northup By Solomon Northup A Slave Narrative Solomon Northup (July 10, 1807 or 1808 - 1863?) was an American abolitionist and the primary author of the memoir Twelve Years a Slave. A free-born African American from New York, he was the son of a freed slave and free woman of color. A farmer and professional violinist, Northup had been a landowner in Hebron, New York. In 1841, he was offered a traveling musician''s job and went to Washington, D.C. (where slavery was legal); there he was drugged, kidnapped, and sold as a slave. Many of the statements contained in the following pages are corroborated by abundant evidence-others rest entirely upon Solomon''s assertion. That he has adhered strictly to the truth the editor, at least, who has had an opportunity of detecting any contradiction or discrepancy in his statements, is well satisfied. He has invariably repeated the same story without deviating in the slightest particular, and has also carefully perused the manuscript, dictating an alteration wherever the most trivial inaccuracy has appealed. It was Solomon''s fortune, during his captivity, to be owned by several masters. The treatment he received while at the "Pine Woods" shows that among slaveholders there are men of humanity as well of cruelty. Some of them are spoken of with emotions of gratitude-others in a spirit of bitterness. It is believed that the following account of his experience on Bayou Boeuf presents a correct picture of Slavery in all its lights, and shadows, as it now exists in that locality. Unbiased, as he conceives, by any prepossessions or prejudices, the only object of the editor has been to give a faithful history of Solomon Northup''s life, as he received it from his lips. In the accomplishment of that object, he trusts he has succeeded, notwithstanding the numerous faults of style and of expression it may be found to contain.

"What difference is there in the color of the soul?" Solomon Northup was born a free man but was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Northup was a slave for 12 years in Louisiana before he was rescued. The narrative Northup wrote on his experience is one of the most famous accounts of slavery. This unforgettable memoir was the basis for the Academy Award-winning film 12 Years a Slave. This is the true story of Solomon Northup, who was born and raised as a freeman in New York.

Solomon Northup (July 1808-1863?) was an American abolitionist and the primary author of the memoir Twelve Years a Slave. In 1841 he was kidnapped by slave traders, having been enticed to Washington, D.C. (where slavery was legal) with a job offer as a violinist with traveling entertainers. Shortly after he and his employers arrived in DC, they sold him as a slave. After twelve years of slavery, Northup regained his freedom on January 3, 1853 and returned to his family in New York

Twelve Years a Slave, sub-title: Narrative of Solomon Northup, citizen of New-York, kidnapped in Washington city in 1841, and rescued in 1853, from a cotton plantation near the Red River in Louisiana, is a memoir by Solomon Northup as told to and edited by David Wilson. It is a slave narrative of a black man who was born free in New York state but kidnapped in Washington, D.C., sold into slavery, and kept in bondage for 12 years in Louisiana. He provided details of slave markets in Washington, D.C. and New Orleans, as well as describing at length cotton and sugar cultivation on major plantations in Louisiana.

The three most important aspects of 12 Years a Slave: 12 Years a Slave presents a startlingly accurate and verifiable account of the common slave experience in the United States in the antebellum (pre-Civil War) South. From start to finish, basic facts about the time, the places, the people, and the practices of the day are incorporated, sometimes in excessive detail, into Northup''s story. He speaks with authority on all subjects of his enslavement, naming names and pointing out landmarks along the way. In doing so, he dares skeptics to refute his story, knowing that public records and common knowledge would defend it.

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.

Twelve Years a Slave is an 1853 memoir and slave narrative by American Solomon Northup as told to and edited by David Wilson. Northup, a black man who was born free in New York state, details his being tricked to go to Washington, D.C., where he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep South. He was in bondage for 12 years in Louisiana before he was able to secretly get information to friends and family in New York, who in turn secured his release with the aid of the state. Northup''s account provides extensive details on the slave markets in Washington, D.C. and New Orleans, and describes at length cotton and sugar cultivation and slave treatment on major plantations in Louisiana.

Twelve Years a Slave, sub-title: Narrative of Solomon Northup, citizen of New-York, kidnapped in Washington city in 1841, and rescued in 1853, from a cotton plantation near the Red River in Louisiana, is a memoir by Solomon Northup as told to and edited by David Wilson. It is a slave narrative of a black man who was born free in New York state but kidnapped in Washington, D.C., sold into slavery, and kept in bondage for 12 years in Louisiana. He provided details of slave markets in Washington, D.C. and New Orleans, as well as describing at length cotton and sugar cultivation on major plantations in Louisiana.

Twelve Years a Slave is the memoir of Solomon Northup, a free black man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Published in 1853, the same year in which he was liberated, it covers his twelve years in servitude.Northup recounts his life beginning in New York, establishing his origin and his status as a free man residing in the North with his family. He then shares the details surrounding his kidnapping and experiences within the slave market, and the subsequent years of captivity and enslavement he endures until he steps onto free soil again twelve years later. Through his story of plight, Northup describes the daily interactions between him, other slaves, and the various masters he works under, as well as specific and extensive knowledge of agricultural practices and southern customs - shedding more light on slavery than any textbook can.The memoir is dedicated to Harriet Beecher Stowe, whose fictional narrative, Uncle Tom''s Cabin, was published only one year earlier. Critics have noticed Northup''s story bears many similarities to Stowe''s, such as the condemnation of the legal system itself rather than individual slave owners, as well as the shared setting of the novels. The publication of Twelve Years a Slave helped affirm the fictional, albeit accurate, words of Stowe regarding the institution of slavery.

Twelve Years a Slave is an 1853 memoir and slave narrative by American Solomon Northup as told to and edited by David Wilson. Northup, a black man who was born free in New York state, details his being tricked to go to Washington, D.C., where he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep South. He was in bondage for 12 years in Louisiana before he was able to secretly get information to friends and family in New York, who in turn secured his release with the aid of the state. Northup''s account provides extensive details on the slave markets in Washington, D.C. and New Orleans, and describes at length cotton and sugar cultivation and slave treatment on major plantations in Louisiana.The work was published eight years before the Civil War by Derby & Miller of Auburn, New York, soon after Harriet Beecher Stowe''s best-selling novel about slavery, Uncle Tom''s Cabin (1852), to which it lent factual support. Northup''s book, dedicated to Stowe, sold 30,000 copies, making it a bestseller in its own right.After being published in several editions in the 19th century and later cited by specialist scholarly works on slavery in the United States, the memoir fell into public obscurity for nearly 100 years. It was re-discovered on separate occasions by two Louisiana historians, Sue Eakin (Louisiana State University at Alexandria) and Joseph Logsdon (University of New Orleans). In the early 1960s, they researched and retraced Solomon Northup''s journey and co-edited a historically annotated version that was published by Louisiana State University Press (1968).