ipl-logo

12 Years A Slave

761 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: 12 years a slave movie review essay

In the memoir, 12 Years a Slave, Solomon Northup details his journey from a free African American man living in the North, who on a business trip is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Antebellum South. Solomon Northup was the son of a freed slave who lived and worked in Saratoga Springs, New York, where he resided with his wife and three children. Northup primarily worked as a farmer and a violinist, and in 1841 he journeyed with two men to Washington D.C. to play at a circus. Northup was subsequently drugged, kidnapped, beaten, transported to New Orleans, and sold into slavery in the Red River region of Louisiana. For the next twelve years, Solomon Northup toiled as the human property of a multitude of slave masters, ranging from the kind and benevolent Master Williams, to the cruel and sadistic, Master Epps. In January of 1853, Northup’s letters for freedom were answered by a friend from New York who rescued him and helped him return to his friends and family. This memoir deals with a dark period of time in United States history, specifically from 1620 to 1865, where one human being could consider another human being his property, …show more content…

This book also allows the reader some insight on the relationship between a slave and a slave master and the mentality which slave masters held to justify the need to hold another human being as property. Lastly, this book allowed the reader to gain a better understanding and appreciation on just how valuable liberty and freedom are to a person. This is evidenced by the quote,” So we passed, handcuffed and in silence, through the streets of Washington — through the Capital of a nation, whose theory of government, we were told, rests on the foundation of man’s inalienable right to life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness” (Northup

Show More
Related
184 Words | 1 Pages

Lillian Goldman Law Library Foner, Eric. Chapter 4: Slavery, Freedom, And The Struggle for Empire. Give Me Liberty! 4th ed. N.p.:

Read More
1226 Words | 5 Pages

Thomas Peters was a young man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. He was sold form one owner to another. He was sold to a colonist named William Campbell who lived on the Cape Fear River in North Carolina. There he learned the trade of millwright. There were constant clashes between the British and the colonists and rumors began spread about a slave revolution planned for July.

Read More
196 Words | 1 Pages

Fredrick Douglass, a free slave, wrote an article about a conflict in Boston involving a runaway slave and a kidnapper. The kidnapper attempted to return the runaway slave to his master; during a scuffle, the kidnapper was killed. Douglass penned that if society has the right to preserve itself even at the expense of the life of an aggressor then it was acceptable to kill the kidnapper. Society does have the right to preserve itself even at the expense of an aggressor’s life; therefore, it was acceptable to kill the kidnapper. In Douglass’s article, his argument is formatted to suggest two premises and a conclusion that are both correct and uncontested.

Read More
873 Words | 4 Pages

Although a century apart, Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter from Birmingham Jail and Frederick Douglass’s What to a Slave is the fourth of July are kindred spirits. Notwithstanding the many differences in their respective writing styles, deep down the essence of the message conveyed is still very much the same. Both Martin Luther King Junior and Frederick Douglas had similar beliefs and concepts related to the treatment of the African American community. They both describe a tough yet heart breaking situation that makes them question their moral values and doubt the system and its ability to change for better.

Read More
1056 Words | 5 Pages

This will get the listeners thinking about what sincerely is happening with the issue of slavery and stimulate interest in the abolitionist mindset. Additionally, the author laconically questions, “What to the American Slave is your Fourth

Read More
1095 Words | 5 Pages

The Portrayal of Slavery in Antebellum Louisiana in Solomon Northup’s Twelve Years a Slave In his memoire Twelve Years a Slave, illegitimately enslaved Solomon Northup does not only depict his own deprivations in bondage, but also provides a deep insight into the slave trade, slaves’ working and living conditions, as well as religious beliefs of both enslaved people and their white masters in antebellum Louisiana. Northup’s narrative is a distinguished literary piece that exposes the injustice of the whole slaveholding system and its dehumanizing effect. It is not a secret that the agriculture dominated the economy of antebellum Louisiana (Louisiana: A History 183). Therefore the Southern planters needed relatively cheap workforce to cultivate

Read More
814 Words | 4 Pages

In the 1700-1800’s, the use of African American slaves for backbreaking, unpaid work was at its prime. Despite the terrible conditions that slaves were forced to deal with, slave owners managed to convince themselves and others that it was not the abhorrent work it was thought to be. However, in the mid-1800’s, Northern and southern Americans were becoming more aware of the trauma that slaves were facing in the South. Soon, an abolitionist group began in protest, but still people doubted and questioned it.

Read More
1110 Words | 5 Pages

One of the strategies Douglass uses to convince his audience slavery should be abolished is by “calling out American hypocrisy in his Fourth of July oration” (Mercieca 1). He shames them with no remorse. He speaks on the opposite treatments that enable whites to live in a state of freedom and liberty, while the blacks are living in a state of bondage. As the audience listens, he reminds them, there are men, women and children still held hostages to the chains of

Read More
636 Words | 3 Pages

he uses bold words and biting criticism to call attention to the gross injustices and hypocrisy of slavery in the United States. In the opening remarks of his speech, Douglas provides heart-wrenching descriptions to pull his audience into the lives of their fellow

Read More
1660 Words | 7 Pages

Solomon Northup was born a freeman in New York in 1808. In 1829, Northup married Anne Hampton and was a model citizen of New York. However, Northup was kidnapped by lying slave traders to work for them while working in Washington in 1841 and sold as a slave into Louisiana. According to the lectures of Professor Carson, a slave in the south was considered in law as property and did not have the same rights as free

Read More
753 Words | 4 Pages

Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a first hand experience into the imbalance of power between a slave and a slaveholder and the negative effects it has on them both. Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave, but the slaveholder as well by saying that this “poison of irresponsible power” has a dehumanizing effect on the slaveholder’s morals and beliefs (Douglass 40). This intense amount of power breaks the  kindest heart and changes the slaveholder into a heartless demon (Douglass 40). Yet these are not the only ways that Douglass proves what ill effect slavery has on the slaveholder. Douglass also uses deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion to present the negative effects of slavery.

Read More
1642 Words | 7 Pages

From this, derives a bond with the reader that pushes their understanding of the evil nature of slavery that society deemed appropriate therefore enhancing their understanding of history. While only glossed over in most classroom settings of the twenty-first century, students often neglect the sad but true reality that the backbone of slavery, was the dehumanization of an entire race of people. To create a group of individuals known for their extreme oppression derived from slavery, required plantation owner’s of the South to constantly embedded certain values into the lives of their slaves. To talk back means to be whipped.

Read More
729 Words | 3 Pages

In regards to the abolitionist movement, Solomon Northup’s slave narrative was particularly important because it revealed the inhumane treatment, such as the brutal beatings done by masters and overseers, the sexual use of slave women and the merciless separation of families, and in his personal case the abuse of the Fugitive Slave

Read More
803 Words | 4 Pages

Score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free.” ( King, para.

Read More
1838 Words | 8 Pages

PAGE 2 In the Narrative Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, he uses this text to explain his purpose in “throwing light on the American slave system”, or show it for what it really is, as well as show his position on how he strongly believes slavery is an issue that needs to be addressed and how it differs from those who defended slavery, with experiences from his own life to support his argument. Douglass uses experience from his early days as a young slave to throw light on the aspect of physical abuse. According to his narrative, Douglass states, “Master, however, was not a humane slaveholder.

Read More

More about 12 Years A Slave

Related Topics

Open Document