American Legends: E-Book

• Herausgeber: Charles River Editors
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Serie: American Legends
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 67

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

“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 Northup

A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history’s most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors’ American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America’s most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.

In 2013, the release of the critically acclaimed Twelve Years a Slave once again shined the spotlight on slave narratives, and while his had toiled in relative obscurity since the late 19th century, the movie’s depiction of Solomon Northup’s slave narrative pushed him front and center yet again. Northup’s life was quite unique because he was born a free African-American in the state of New York, and he spent the first 33 years of his life living as a free man there. However, in 1841, he was tricked into traveling to Washington, DC with the promise of employment as a violinist, only to be subsequently sold into slavery and forced to work as a slave on a plantation in Louisiana.

For 12 years, he endured the plight of being a slave, so when he gained his freedom in 1853, he was well-positioned to write an account that poignantly described the barbaric system of slavery in the Deep South. Northup’s narrative about being a slave for 12 years was popular upon its release in 1853, which coincided with the release of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and it came to have an important place in the slave literature of the antebellum period, where accounts such as Northup’s helped opened the eyes of northerners to the experiences of slavery. Perhaps not surprisingly, as was the case with Frederick Douglass’ work, Southerners alleged that Northup didn’t actually write the book, or that the entire narrative was made up. However, historians by and large have accepted the narrative’s authenticity, and they have even relied on Northup’s description of certain sites to try to unearth ruins and relics of the past.

American Legends: The Life of Solomon Northup examines the life and work of the critical author. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Northup and his plight like never before, in no time at all.

Leseprobe

American Legends: The Life of Solomon Northup

By Charles River Editors

Engraving of Northup from his autobiography(1941)

About Charles River Editors

Charles River Editors provides superior editing and original writing services across the digital publishing industry, with the expertise to create digital content for publishers across a vast range of subject matter. In addition to providing original digital content for third party publishers, we also republish civilization’s greatest literary works, bringing them to new generations of readers via ebooks.

Introduction

Solomon Northup (1808-?)

“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 Northup

A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history’s most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors’ American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America’s most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.

In 2013, the release of the critically acclaimed Twelve Years a Slave once again shined the spotlight on slave narratives, and while his had toiled in relative obscurity since the late 19th century, the movie’s depiction of Solomon Northup’s slave narrative pushed him front and center yet again. Northup’s life was quite unique because he was born a free African-American in the state of New York, and he spent the first 33 years of his life living as a free man there. However, in 1841, he was tricked into traveling to Washington, DC with the promise of employment as a violinist, only to be subsequently sold into slavery and forced to work as a slave on a plantation in Louisiana.

For 12 years, he endured the plight of being a slave, so when he gained his freedom in 1853, he was well-positioned to write an account that poignantly described the barbaric system of slavery in the Deep South. Northup’s narrative about being a slave for 12 years was popular upon its release in 1853, which coincided with the release of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and it came to have an important place in the slave literature of the antebellum period, where accounts such as Northup’s helped opened the eyes of northerners to the experiences of slavery. Perhaps not surprisingly, as was the case with Frederick Douglass’ work, Southerners alleged that Northup didn’t actually write the book, or that the entire narrative was made up. However, historians by and large have accepted the narrative’s authenticity, and they have even relied on Northup’s description of certain sites to try to unearth ruins and relics of the past.

American Legends: The Life of Solomon Northup examines the life and work of the critical author. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Northup and his plight like never before, in no time at all.

American Legends: The Life of Solomon Northup

About Charles River Editors

Introduction

Chapter 1: Northup’s Early Years

Chapter 2: The Slave Trade

Chapter 3: Different Kinds of Masters

Chapter 4: The Epps Plantation

Chapter 5: Attempting to Escape

Chapter 6: Free Again

Bibliography

Chapter 1: Northup’s Early Years

“Thus far the history of my life presents nothing whatever unusual—nothing but the common hopes, and loves, and labors of an obscure colored man, making his humble progress in the world. But now I had reached a turning point in my existence—reached the threshold of unutterable wrong, and sorrow, and despair. Now had I approached within the shadow of the cloud, into the thick darkness whereof I was soon to disappear, thenceforward to be hidden from the eyes of all my kindred, and shut out from the sweet light of liberty, for many a weary year.” – Solomon Northup

Not surprisingly, what’s known about Northup’s early years come from what he wrote in his narrative. Solomon Northup’s father, Mintus Northup, was a slave whose master moved from Rhode Island to New York state, and upon his master’s death, Mintus was freed and spent the rest of his life working as a farm laborer on the farms of various employers in that state. According to Solomon Northup, his father was “a man respected for his industry and integrity...His whole life was passed in the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, never seeking employment in those more menial positions, which seem to be especially allotted to the children of Africa.” When recalling his own experiences as a slave, Northup’s father spoke highly of the family that owned him, and whose last name he took, but at the same time he criticized the institution of slavery, and “dwelt with sorrow on the degradation of his race.” (Northup, p.19)

Mintus Northup died in 1829, the same year that Solomon married Anne Hampton, “a colored girl then living in the vicinity of our residence.” According to Solomon, Anne was a mixed-race woman whose family included Indian, European, and African ancestry. Because he was now a husband “with a wife dependent upon me for support,” Northup took on a series of jobs that would allow him to raise a family: “I had just now passed the period of my minority, having reached the age of twenty-one years in the month of July previous. Deprived of the advice and assistance of my father, with a wife dependent upon me for support, I resolved to enter upon a life of industry; and notwithstanding the obstacle of color, and the consciousness of my lowly state, indulged in pleasant dreams of a good time coming, when the possession of some humble habitation, with a few surrounding acres, should reward my labors, and bring me the means of happiness and comfort. “

Thus, during the winter of 1829, Northup gained employment repairing the Champlain Canal, after which he “was enabled, from the savings of my wages, to purchase a pair of horses and other things necessarily required in the business of navigation.” He then began a job transporting “large rafts of timber” from Lake Champlain to Troy, NY before taking a contract cutting wood for a man named Medad Gunn. From there, Northup “entered into arrangements for a part of the old Alden farm”, where he began farming. (Northup, p.22)

Northup eventually moved to Saratoga, NY, where he resided with his wife and three children: Elizabeth, Margaret, and Alonzo. He wrote about his young family, “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. This much I deem appropriate and necessary to day, in order that those who read these pages, may comprehend the poignancy of those sufferings I have been doomed to bear.”

At Saratoga, Northup came into contact with slaves who had accompanied their masters from the South. According to Northup, these slaves “were always well dressed and well provided for,” but he also noted that they all “cherished a secret desire for liberty.” (Northup, p.25). He added, “Some of them expressed the most ardent anxiety to escape, and consulted me on the best method of effecting it. The fear of punishment, however, which they knew was certain to attend their re-capture and return, in all cases proved sufficient to deter them from the experiment. Having all my life breathed the free air of the North, and conscious that I possessed the same feelings and affections that find a place in the white man's breast; conscious, moreover, of an intelligence equal to that of some men, at least, with a fairer skin. I was too ignorant, perhaps too independent, to conceive how any one could be content to live in the abject condition of a slave.”