12 Years A Slave; A True Story of Betrayal,
Kidnap and Slavery, written by Solomon Northrup, a black man who was born free
and who, in 1841, was ‘tricked’ into slavery, ripped away from his family and
his life. This is a fascinating account of his experience as a slave after
being drugged, kidnapped, sold and taken to the swamps of Louisiana to live in deplorable
conditions and suffer inhumane treatment. Numerous accounts have been written
on the subject of slavery, (fiction and non) but what is unique in this
particular story is the first hand perspective. Northrup describes (in graphic
detail) the floggings he took and the ones he was forced to give to his fellow
slaves. He gives accounts of the meager food rations and how, by his own
devices, he was able to trap fish, raccoon and opossum and prepare them without
the use of utensils or pots. He offers up vivid descriptions of the processes
used in picking cotton and cutting sugar cane.
Through his words, the reader can vividly imagine the back breaking
labor, the pain of sleeping on a splintered slab of wood, and the oppressive
feeling of being watched over every minute of daylight.
Near the end of his book, Northrup aptly sums
up his story in this way: “I can speak of slavery only so far as it came under
my own observation – only so far as I have known and experienced it in my own
person. My object is to give a candid and truthful statement of facts: to
repeat the story of my life, without exaggeration, leaving it for others to
determine, whether even the pages of fiction present a picture of more cruel
wrong or a severer bondage.”
This is a haunting tale and one that will stay
with me for some time.
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