Who Is Solomon Northup 12 Years A Slave

12 Years a Slave, by Solomon Northup, may have been one of the most important accounts of slavery published. Solomon Northup was a free man, given the right at birth, before he was kidnapped and taken from his home in New York in hopes of a job opportunity. The book starts in Saratoga Springs in 1841. Slavery is a subject that isn’t always a subject that it touched as often as it should be, mostly for how shameful the actions made on America’s land were. During this period it was hard to establish traits in America. Solomon Northup’s account of slavery gave much detail to draw conclusions from during such an ambiguous time in America’s history. Solomon’s transformation throughout the text shows how the American identity proved to be hypocritical,

Solomon also notes on it, “In many Northern minds, perhaps, the idea of a man holding his brother man is servitude, and the traffic in human flesh, may seem altogether incompatible with their conceptions of a moral or religious life,” (Northup 90). Majority of America’s population during this time had a Christian faith. During the beginning of the book, when Solomon realizes he’s been kidnapped, he was in slave pen in Washington D.C. “...So we passed, handcuffed and in silence, through the streets of Washington, through the Capital of a nation, whose theory of government, we are told, rests on the foundation of man's inalienable right to life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness! Hail! Columbia, happy land, indeed,” (Northup). When asked to think of the most safe place to be in this nation we would think of Washington, it is our nation’s capital, where our president lives. It makes sense to think one’s life would be held to the highest liberty under the eye of the White House. Also, noting on the slave's’ role in the economic boom again, the American country countlessly noted on their hard work, however, it was the slaves’ hard work that allowed for such progress to go on. “ It is a fact I have more than once observed, that those who treated their slaves most leniently, were rewarded by the greatest amount of labor. I know it from my own experience,” (Northup 99). This shows how out of touch slaveholders were. If they would have taken the time to realize that treating slaves with respect would have gotten themselves more work done, they could have been more efficient. Now, this is not to be said to be confused with the condoning of slavery if they were treated nicely but to provide insight on how out of touch slaveholders were with the working