Twelve Years a Slave

"Twelve Years a Slave" is an 1853 memoir and slave narrative by American Solomon Northup and edited by David Wilson. Northup, a black man, born free in New York state, details his being tricked into going to Washington, D.C., where he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep South. He was in bondage for 12 years in Louisiana before he was able to secretly get information to friends and family in New York, who in turn secured his release with the aid of the state. Northup's account provides extensive details on the slave markets in Washington, D.C., and New Orleans. It describes at length cotton and sugar cultivation and slave treatment on major plantations in Louisiana.