Twelve Years a Slave

Twelve Years a Slave is the autobiography of Solomon Northup, published in 1853.

Solomon Northup was born free, like his father, in a northern state of the United States. He was tricked, kidnapped, and later sold into slavery in a southern state.

For the next twelve years, he lived and worked on plantations in the state of Louisiana under inhumane conditions and brutal treatment by the masters.

Northup tells his story in detail through his memories, his feelings of being betrayed and trapped in slavery, his relationships with other slaves or masters, and the oppressive system in general. It highlights the cruelty of human beings and offers a ray of hope by showing the resilience of the human spirit in the face of hardship.

It is a hard but necessary read to understand one of the darkest periods in American history.

"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."