Wednesday, March 26, 2014

A fascinating, first-hand account of slavery

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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