Solomon Northup, a well to do black man who was kidnapped into slavery, wrote his best-selling autobiography, “12 Years A Slave”, which tells the unbelievable true story of a free African American man whose freedom was stolen and sold into slavery. Solomon Northup, not only the main character, but also the author, takes the reader through his breathtaking journey of struggle and survival in the world of slavery. Northup was a white man who was related to the family that kept Solomon’s father as a slave, and since he was a lawyer, he was able to rescue Solomon from captivity. Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton, were two con artists that tricked Solomon into believing he was going to work as a violinist in a circus. …show more content…
Although Solomon and his lawyer pressed criminal charges against Burch and his partner, Ebenezer Radburn, they were never brought to justice because Burch hired false witnesses to testify on their behalf. One of Solomon’s friends while in captivity, Patsey was a 23- year old black woman slave belonging to Edwin Epps. Everyday, Patsey was abused by Epps. The constant abuse and poisonous jealousy of Epp’s wife eventually drove Patsey to commit suicide. Edwin Epps, Solomon’s last and most savage master, owned him for about 10 years. Epps enjoyed himself by continuously whipping and forcing the slaves to dance at night while he was drunk. Overall, the story of Solomon’s 12 years in captivity as a slave, shows the intolerable and unimaginable …show more content…
Likewise, he confronted perceivable difficulties both physically and rationally. Physically, he was beaten routinely and was compelled to live and work in terrible conditions. Rationally, he lived with abuse measuring substantial on his each idea. The dehumanization Solomon withstanded is a case of the persecution he confronted, being dealt with like property and having no worth.
Solomon, in the same way as other abolitionists, comprehended the irrelevance of skin color. He goes to clarify this by saying, “What difference is there in the color of the soul?” (Northup 162). This speaks to how terribly he felt about separation in light of skin shading. Solomon demonstrates that it is genuinely what is within that individuals need to pay attention to, not what they look like on the outside. If someone is genuinely a good person, something so simple as to how dark or light they are should have no effect on what their perception of that person