Solomon Northup

EXCEPTIONAL EDITION This unique book contains two exceptional slave narratives: Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs. Twelve Years a Slave (1853) is a memoir and slave narrative by Solomon Northup (1808-1863?). Northup, a black man who was born free in New York state, details his being tricked to go to Washington, D. C., where he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep South. After having been kept in bondage for 12 years in Louisiana by various masters, Northup was able to write to friends and family in New York, who in turn secured his release with the aid of the state. Northup's captivating and terrifying narrative provides extensive details on the slave markets in Washington, D. C. and New Orleans, and describes at length cotton and sugar cultivation and slave treatment on major plantations in Louisiana. This work published soon after Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852), to which it lent factual support, was an instant bestseller in its own right. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) is an autobiography by a young mother and fugitive slave, Harriet Ann Jacobs, who used the pen name Linda Brent. The book documents Jacobs' life as a slave and how she gained freedom for herself and for her children. Jacobs contributed to the genre of slave narrative . She explores the struggles and sexual abuse that female slaves faced on plantations as well as their efforts to practice motherhood and protect their children when their children might be sold away. Jacob's book is addressed to white women in the North who do not fully comprehend the evils of slavery. She makes direct appeals to their humanity to expand their knowledge and influence their thoughts about slavery as an institution. These outstanding stories are must-read of American litterature.

Twelve years a slave - 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.

The slave narrative is a literary sub-genre that emerged from the written accounts of enslaved Africans in Great Britain and its colonies, including the later United States, Canada, and Caribbean nations. 'Twelve Years a Slave' by Solomon Northup is perhaps the most famous example of the genre and was the basis for the acclaimed 2012 film.

12 Years a Slave - Narrative of Solomon Northup

Twelve Years a Slave: A True Story by Solomon Northup. Illustrated Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped In Washington City In 1841, and Rescued in 1853. The Narrative will be read with interest by every one who can sympathise with a human being struggling for freedom.-Buffalo Courier. The volume cannot fail to gain a wide circulation. It will be read extensively, both at the North and South. No one can contemplate the scenes which are here so naturally set forth, without a new conviction of the hideousness of the institution from which the subject of the narrative has happily escaped.-N. Y. Tribune . Next to Uncle Tom"s Cabin, the extraordinary Narrative of Solomon Northup is the most remarkable book that was ever issued from the American press, intended to illustrate what Solomon saw and experienced, Southern Slavery in its various phases.-Detroit Trib. This is one of the most exciting narratives, full of incidents artlessly told, with all the marks of truth.-Cin. Jour.