Solomon Northup

Broschiertes Buch

Twelve Years a Slave

Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1853

Herausgeber: Wilson, David

Beschreibung

After living as a free man for the first thirty-three years of his life, Solomon Northup was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery, leaving behind a wife and three children in New York. Sold to a Louisiana plantation owner who was also a Baptist preacher, Northup proceeded to serve several masters, some who were brutally cruel and others whose humanity he praised. After years of bondage, he met an outspoken abolitionist from Canada who notified Northup's family of his whereabouts, and he was subsequently rescued by an official agent of the state of New York. Twelve Years a Slave is his account of this unusual series of events. Northup describes life on cotton and sugar cane plantations in meticulous detail. One slave narrative scholar calls his narrative "one of the most detailed and realistic portraits of slave life." He also leavens his account with wry humor and cultural commentary, making many parts of the narrative read more like travel writing than abolitionist literature. Twelve Years a Slave presents the remarkable story of a free man thrown into a hostile and foreign world, who survived by his courage and cunning. A DOCSOUTH BOOK. This collaboration between UNC Press and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library brings classic works from the digital library of Documenting the American South back into print. DocSouth Books uses the latest digital technologies to make these works available in paperback and e-book formats. Each book contains a short summary and is otherwise unaltered from the original publication. DocSouth Books provide affordable and easily accessible editions to a new generation of scholars, students, and general readers.

Autor

Solomon Northrup (1807- between 1857-1864) Born to a freed black man and a free woman of colour, Solomon Northrup was a free-born African-American and an American abolitionist. He grew up in a relatively enlightened New York, which had abolished slavery in 1799. His father's freedom and successful farming business enabled Solomon and his brothers to receive an education and music lessons. He grew up to become a professional musician, specializing in playing the violin. However, Northrup's freedom was exclusive to his life in New York. It wasn't up until the end of the Civil War, in 1865, that the institution of slavery was abolished in the United States in its entirety. Northrup's freedom came to a very long, cruel, and painful pause when he was deceived into going to Washington DC on the pretext of being hired as a travelling musician. There, he was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery. Northrup spent the next 12 years enslaved, captive, in New Orleans where he experienced inhumane conditions under a cruel planter. Solomon Northrup regained his freedom on January 3, 1853 through the help of Samuel Bass, a Canadian working on the plantation. Northrup's freedom came after a long struggle, and while justice due to him was not entirely delivered, his lived experience was revealed to the world in the form of his memoir, 12 Years A Slave.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: UNC at Chapel Hill Library
• Seitenzahl: 230
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. September 2011
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 14mm
• Gewicht: 380g
• ISBN-13: 9780807869437
• ISBN-10: 0807869430
• Artikelnr.: 33873911