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The year was 1841. That “Peculiar Institution” of slavery was running full bore in the south.
Solomon Northup, age 33, a well-educated black man who was born into freedom, resided with his
wife and three children in his native state of New York. Solomon was kidnapped and sold into
slavery in our nation’s capital…Washington, D.C. The perpetrators of this crime, in order to sell
Solomon, insisted he was an escaped slave from Georgia. Whenever Solomon protested and
declared himself a free man, he was terribly beaten once near to death.
Solomon Northup, age 33, a well-educated black man who was born into freedom, resided with his
wife and three children in his native state of New York. Solomon was kidnapped and sold into
slavery in our nation’s capital…Washington, D.C. The perpetrators of this crime, in order to sell
Solomon, insisted he was an escaped slave from Georgia. Whenever Solomon protested and
declared himself a free man, he was terribly beaten once near to death.
Solomon was sold and transported to Louisiana where he spent twelve long years of suffering, degradation, whippings and hard labor as a slave. For fear of his life,
he had to give up the idea of convincing his masters and others that he was actually a free man and a citizen of New York and he resigned himself to the accept the
life of a slave. But, through his years of captivity, he never once stopped believing that one day he would be freed and again become united with his family in New
York.
The enslavement of the black race was an everyday fact of life from the earliest settlement of this country up to the end of the Civil War, which brought a close to this
shameful period of our history. In the 1840s there were many…very many white people who opposed this concept of forced labor and the maltreatment of fellow
human beings. The voices of these abolitionists were becoming louder and louder not only in the north where slavery was practically non-existent, but even in the
heart of the south also. One of these, Samuel Bass, a Canadian by birth, put his own life in jeopardy to free Solomon.
This book, the narrative of a man who not only witnessed the cruelty of slavery, but actually lived it and survived to be reunited with his family after suffering all those
years, should be required reading for every student in our educational system. It gives, in chilling detail, an account of a way of life that hopefully will never, ever, occur
again in this great country…the “Land of the Free”!
he had to give up the idea of convincing his masters and others that he was actually a free man and a citizen of New York and he resigned himself to the accept the
life of a slave. But, through his years of captivity, he never once stopped believing that one day he would be freed and again become united with his family in New
York.
The enslavement of the black race was an everyday fact of life from the earliest settlement of this country up to the end of the Civil War, which brought a close to this
shameful period of our history. In the 1840s there were many…very many white people who opposed this concept of forced labor and the maltreatment of fellow
human beings. The voices of these abolitionists were becoming louder and louder not only in the north where slavery was practically non-existent, but even in the
heart of the south also. One of these, Samuel Bass, a Canadian by birth, put his own life in jeopardy to free Solomon.
This book, the narrative of a man who not only witnessed the cruelty of slavery, but actually lived it and survived to be reunited with his family after suffering all those
years, should be required reading for every student in our educational system. It gives, in chilling detail, an account of a way of life that hopefully will never, ever, occur
again in this great country…the “Land of the Free”!
