Description
Published the same year in which Solomon Northrup was freed from his enslavement, 12 Years A Slave has been a pivotal documented memoir, describing the history of violence and cruelty done to the African American community. Northrup’s experience is testimony to the institutional racism in the United States, one that finally ended with the end of the American Civil War in 1856. The memoir became a vital source of history in the debate over slavery in the years leading up to the Civil War.
Northrup’s memoir is not just about the enslavement and the injustice he faced, but also about the courage with which he faced it all; his struggle for freedom; and his honest account of all that he experienced to tell the world about the inhuman practice of slavery. After falling into obscurity for nearly a century, it was rediscovered by a historian, Sue Eakin, in 1936. The memoir was reissued in the 1960s. Since its publication, the memoir has been a bestseller and has even been adapted into two film versions – the latter was released in 2013 and even received an Academy Award for Best Picture. Even today, 12 Years a Slave continues to serve as a crucial piece of historical evidence as well as a reminder of the racial injustice and brutality done to the African-American community in that era.
12 Years A Slave (1853)
Published the same year in which Solomon Northrup was freed from his enslavement, 12 Years A Slave has been a pivotal documented memoir, describing the history of violence and cruelty done to the African American community. Northrup’s experience is testimony to the institutional racism in the United States, one that finally ended with the end of the American Civil War in 1856. The memoir became a vital source of history in the debate over slavery in the years leading up to the Civil War.
Northrup’s memoir is not just about the enslavement and the injustice he faced, but also about the courage with which he faced it all; his struggle for freedom; and his honest account of all that he experienced to tell the world about the inhuman practice of slavery. After falling into obscurity for nearly a century, it was rediscovered by a historian, Sue Eakin, in 1936. The memoir was reissued in the 1960s. Since its publication, the memoir has been a bestseller and has even been adapted into two film versions – the latter was released in 2013 and even received an Academy Award for Best Picture. Even today, 12 Years a Slave continues to serve as a crucial piece of historical evidence as well as a reminder of the racial injustice and brutality done to the African-American community in that era.
Author's Description
Solomon Northrup (1807– between 1857–1864)
Born to a freed black man and a free woman of colour, Solomon Northrup was a free-born African–American and an American abolitionist. He grew up in a relatively enlightened New York, which had abolished slavery in 1799. His father's freedom and successful farming business enabled Solomon and his brothers to receive an education and music lessons. He grew up to become a professional musician, specializing in playing the violin.
However, Northrup's freedom was exclusive to his life in New York. It wasn't up until the end of the Civil War, in 1865, that the institution of slavery was abolished in the United States in its entirety. Northrup's freedom came to a very long, cruel, and painful pause when he was deceived into going to Washington DC on the pretext of being hired as a travelling musician. There, he was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery. Northrup spent the next 12 years enslaved, captive, in New Orleans where he experienced inhumane conditions under a cruel planter. Solomon Northrup regained his freedom on January 3, 1853 through the help of Samuel Bass, a Canadian working on the plantation. Northrup's freedom came after a long struggle, and while justice due to him was not entirely delivered, his lived experience was revealed to the world in the form of his memoir, 12 Years A Slave.
Country Of Origin :- India
Offers
Shipping Notes
Additional Points
Estimate shipping
You may also like
Recently viewed
