Summary Of 12 Years A Slave

In 1619, the first enslaved Africans to be brought to what would be later known as the United States arrived via a Dutch ship, The White Lion, and were traded to the colonists of Jamestown, Virginia in return for supplies (Chen, Ringer, Pang and Keenan). This was the mere beginnings of an institution that would last nearly 250 years. One of the most insightful works on slavery, told from a quasi-autobiographical stance, is Solomon Northup’s 1853 memoir, 12 Years a Slave, a personal account detailing his kidnapping, enslavement and eventual regained freedom. This paper will examine Northup’s book and experiences, the practice of plantation slavery in the United States, the treatment of women, the rise of American capitalism and the beginnings
However, it is logical to assume that some facts are embellished upon due to the impossibility to accurately recall 12 years of one’s life in such extensive detail. For example, “In about three-fourths of an hour several slaves shouted and made signs for me to run. Presently, looking up the bayou, I saw Tibeats and two others on horse-back, coming at a fast gait, followed by a troop of dogs. There were as many as eight or ten” (p. 93) is full of tiny minute details that probably would not have been remembered in the heat of the moment of the escape. Moreover, “Slave narratives were never intended to give an unbiased view. They were antislavery polemics meant to bring down the institution. Though many of the best narratives, including Northup’s, have withstood scholarly scrutiny and are essentially reliable, they still contain inaccuracies, distortions and embellishments” (Herschthal). Therefore, 12 Years a Slave can be considered a work of both history and
Northup describes the trials of a young, 23-year-old woman, Patsey, on Epps’ plantation, “She [Patsey] was a joyous creature, a laughing, light-hearted girl, rejoicing in the mere sense of existence. Yet Patsey wept oftener, and suffered more, than any of her companions. She had literally been excoriated, her back bore the scars of a thousand stripes; not because she was backward in 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 and a jealous mistress. She shrank beneath the lustful eye of the one, and was in danger even of her life at the hands of the other…Patsey walked under a cloud. If she uttered a word in opposition to her master’s will, the lash was resorted to at once, to bring her to subjection; if she was not watchful when about her cabin, or when walking in the yard, a billet of wood, or a broken bottle perhaps, hurled from her mistress’ hand, would smite her unexpectedly in the face. The enslaved victim of lust and hate, Patsey had no comfort of her life” (p. 134-135). Unfortunately, Patsey was not alone in her sufferings: “Maria was a thirteen-year-old house servant. One day, receiving no response to her call, the mistress began searching the house for her. Finally, she opened the parlor door, and there was the child