Twelve Years A Slave was edited by David Wilson, a white lawyer and legislator from New York who claimed to have presented "a faithful history of Solomon Northup's life.” It’s dedicated to Harriet Beecher Stowe and introduced as "another Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin," Northup's book was published in 1853, less than a year after his survival of slavery. It sold over thirty thousand copies. It may be one of the longest North American slave narratives, but it’s also one of the best-selling.
The genre of this particular book is autobiography/memoir. A slave narrates it about his story of being kidnapped into slavery. The author, Solomon Northup, writes about his daily life as a slave and how he survived twelve years of it. It also exposes other personal
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It describes the harsh times that the slaves had and how their masters treated them. It’s during the Pre-Civil War and shows how easy it was to become a slave even though you were a free man. Its an autobiography so it is a very descriptive book and it tells the exact truth on slavery. They were whipped more than five times a day for the littlest things and treated poorly. They worked hard all day with hardly any sleep. Northup provides details (invaluable now to historians) of slave markets and what daily life was like on the major sugar and cotton plantations of Louisiana. This book helps students compare it to life now, and how we should feel safe and equal because back then was tough and …show more content…
Solomon Northup’s Twelve Years A Slave, tells his life story as a free black man from the North who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Pre-Civil War. He is a violinist that is tricked to attending a gig at a circus for money. Instead he is drugged and sold into slavery in the South. His master starts to call him Platt even though it’s not his real name. During the next twelve years he survived as human property of several different cruel slave masters. He talks about his life as a slave and how no one should be treated that way. In January 1853, Northup was finally freed by one of his closest Northern friends who came to his rescue. His friends were white themselves and knew that Solomon shouldn’t of been kept a slave. He finally returns home to his family in New York and there, wrote his memoir in Twelve Years A
From before the country’s conception to the war that divided it and the fallout that abolished it, slavery has been heavily engrained in the American society. From poor white yeoman farmers, to Northern abolitionist, to Southern gentry, and apathetic northerners slavery transformed the way people viewed both their life and liberty. To truly understand the impact that slavery has had on American society one has to look no further than those who have experienced them firsthand. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave and advocate for the abolitionist, is on such person. Douglass was a living contradiction to American society during his time. He was an African-American man, self-taught, knowledgeable, well-spoken, and a robust writer. Douglass displayed a level of skill that few of his people at the time could acquire. With his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave Written by Himself, Douglass captivated the people of his time with his firsthand accounts into the horror and brutality that is the institution of slavery.
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
1. The insight that each of these sources offers into slave life in the antebellum South is how slaves lived, worked, and were treated by their masters. The narratives talk about their nature of work, culture, and family in their passages. For example, in Solomon Northup 's passage he describes how he worked in the cotton field. Northup said that "An ordinary day 's work is considered two hundred pounds. A slave who is accustomed to picking, is punished, if he or she brings less quantity than that," (214). Northup explains how much cotton slaves had to bring from the cotton field and if a slave brought less or more weight than their previous weight ins then the slave is whipped because they were either slacking or have no been working to their
Solomon was a man that fell into these hands of misconception and kidnappers similar to Patty Cannon. 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... ... middle of paper ... ... guilty.
The book is significant in the sense that it gives even the current generation the knowledge of slavery, how it happened and the reason for slavery. It also shows us that whites and blacks are equal regardless of the skin colour. The point of equality is supported by the scene where Nat’s plans about freedom do not work but we understand that he had a lot of intelligence to plan that rebellion. This proves to us that blacks have equal intelligence as the whites since everyone being equal. The author tries to take us back to the ages of slavery and make us suffer with the slaves so as to feel how it was really like. The author succeeds in making us feel the pain and he succeeds in making us get that clear picture of what happened.
middle of paper ... ... They still had to go through hardships and endure many burdens even though they were free. The reason it is important to learn about the life of free blacks in the north is that even though they were free, life wasn’t all that easy for them. This is important to learn because it clears up misconceptions that the North was a complete safe haven for slaves.
In The Narrative of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, an African American male describes his day as a slave and what he has become from the experience. Douglass writes this story to make readers understand that slavery is brutalizing and dehumanizing, that a slave is able to become a man, and that he still has intellectual ability even though he is a slave. In the story, these messages are shown frequently through the diction of Frederick Douglass.
Narrating these stories informs readers not familiar with slavery a clear idea on how slaves lived and were treated. The novel brings a strong political message to our society. If Douglass explains to people what slavery was about, they would be influenced to make a change. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is the story of Frederick Douglass from the time he was born a slave to the time of his escape to freedom. Through years of physical abuse and assault, Douglass overcame these obstacles to become an advocate against
Frederick Douglass, who was born into slavery around 1818, will forever remain one of the most important figures in America's struggle for civil rights and racial equality. As an ex-slave, his inspiration grew beyond his boarders to reach the whole world. Without any formal education, Douglass escaped slavery and became a respected American diplomat, a counselor to four presidents, a highly regarded speaker, and an influential writer. By common consent Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845) is recognized as the best among the many slave narratives that appeared before the Civil War. He amazed people when he spoke bravely in his Fourth of July speech. He spoke out against oppression throughout America and abroad, and his struggle for freedom, self-discovery, and identity stands as a testament for all time, for all people. Although some people accused him of lying, exaggerating, and using his narrative and his well-known Fourth of July speech as part of an abolitionist plot, Douglass was able to clearly demonstrate his talents, sensitivity, and intellectual capacity by revealing the truth about the lives, culture, and psychological struggles of American slaves.
This novel was a very long and strenuous read. Solomon included many details about the process of planting and harvesting cotton or the appearance of a man from head to foot, for example. This painted an extremely accurate picture in the reader’s head, however it made the story boring and slow. There were also a lot of old-fashioned words that I had to look up before I understood sentences. Although the novel was slow and old-fashioned, I would recommend this book to students who wished to learn more about this time period because it certainly helps certain aspects easier to comprehend. Twelve Years a Slave gave me a different perspective to slavery, and a different way of viewing it.
The author made a point to explain what slaves had better than others.... ... middle of paper ... ... He touched on parts of the slaves' lives and what they really went through, but I don't think we even have a true idea of what it would have been like in their shoes.
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:
We have not yet covered this time period yet, but soon enough we will discuss those crucial years before the civil war in class. However this has still aided and enlightened my studies in American History. It gave me a more in-depth and closer look at the slavery issue and how absurd it was. It gave me a sense of the feelings of the people of the time that John Brown was alive. Enough was learned from this book that the time spent reading it can be justified. I enjoyed reading the book and would recommend it to some one who enjoys learning about that time period in history and the exciting actions and events of a good-hearted man devoting his life for a good cause.
It seems to me that if everyone could read this book and understand the cruelness of that time, it would make a substantial difference. Many of us don’t have the knowledge about slavery, post-slavery and civil rights to realize how important it is. Not only do we not have the knowledge, many don’t want to take a stand. Even the little racist comments are still something that isn’t right. Additionally, many teens don’t have much communication or strong bonds with their parents or family members. Knowing the importance of this from reading this book would help anyone in the present and future. Family is the base of everything and I’m finally starting to learn that. Reading this book made me see the importance of equality and having a strong family
Obviously during the time period when slavery occurred, there were opposing opinions about the topic: majority of the South was proslavery and majority of the North was antislavery. Solomon Northup’s first person account provided insight into what truly happened in slavery and was able to uncover a piece of the larger story of America. Along with being personal, his story was also unique, as he was able to tell his story from both the perspective of a free man and of a slave. He was able to expose the true aspects of slavery through his themes of namelessness, inhumanity, struggle, distrust, defiance, and the desire for freedom. Northup also told the reader of his good and bad experiences throughout this time, so he or she really got a decent effect of what he went through. This book seemed to open the eyes of society on such a sad, controversial topic.