Overview

Twelve Years a Slave is the autobiographical account of Solomon Northup, an African American who was born free in New York in the early 1800s. In 1841, Solomon Northup was captured and forced into slavery for a period of twelve years. Northup's account is detailed in its account of life on a cotton and sugar plantation and the daily routine of slave life during the first part of the 19th century. The book describes the daily life of slaves in Bayou Beof, their diet, the relationship between master and slave, the means that slave catchers used to recapture them, and the ugly realities that slaves suffered. Comparable to the accounts of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, and William Wells Brown, Twelve Years a Slave is a captivating narrative of the life of freedom and slavery experienced by one African American man prior to the American Civil War.

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"A moving, vital testament.-- ""Saturday Review"" ""Frightening, gripping and inspiring...Northup's story seems almost biblical...Northup reminds us of the fragile nature of freedom in any human society and the harsh reality that whatever legal boundaries existed between so-called free states and slave states in 1841, no black man, woman, or child was permanently safe."" -- ""Henry Louis Gates, director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, and author of Life Upon These Shores"" ""I could not believe that I had never heard of this book. It felt as important as Anne Frank's Diary, only published nearly a hundred years before...The book blew [my] mind: the epic range, the details, the adventure, the horror, and the humanity...I hope my film can play a part in drawing attention to this important book of courage. Solomon's bravery and life deserve nothing less."" -- ""Steve McQueen, director of 12 Years a Slave"" ""The best firsthand account of slavery."" -- ""New York Times Book Review"""

Author Information

Solomon Northup (b. 1808) was an African American carpenter who was born free in Minerva, Essex County, New York, but was bound into slavery later in life for a period of twelve years. He is the author of the autobiographical account Twelve Years a Slave, which chronicles his experiences as both a slave and a free man. After regaining his freedom, Solomon became active in abolitionism, lecturing widely on his experiences as a slave throughout the Northeast in order to end the practice of slavery. Sean Crisden is an actor and Earphones Award-winning narrator. He has also voiced characters in numerous video games, such as the award-winning ShadowGun, and has appeared in many commercials and films, including The Last Airbender.

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