Solomon Northup is the author of Twelve Years a Slave, a nineteenth-century slave narrative recounting his kidnapping and enslavement. Northup was a free Black man living in New York when he was deceived in Washington, D.C., transported south and sold into slavery under another name. The book describes the plantations and enslavers he encountered in Louisiana, the labour demanded of enslaved people, violence, family separation and the practical knowledge Northup used to survive until he was able to contact people who could help establish his free status. Because the narrative was published soon after his rescue, it is both a personal account and an important primary source for the history of American slavery, though readers may also consult scholarship about its publication and historical context. The work fits slave narrative, African American history, memoir and nineteenth-century American literature. Twelve Years a Slave is the essential and central text associated with Northup's authorship. Read more Less
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