Solomon Northup: Twelve Years a Slave (English Edition)

"Having been born a freeman, and for more than thirty years enjoyed the blessings of liberty in a free State—and having at the end of that time been kidnapped and sold into Slavery, where I remained, until happily rescued in the month of January, 1853, after a bondage of twelve years—it has been suggested that an account of my life and fortunes would not be uninteresting to the public. Since my return to liberty, I have not failed to perceive the increasing interest throughout the Northern States, in regard to the subject of Slavery. Works of fiction, professing to portray its features in their more pleasing as well as more repugnant aspects, have been circulated to an extent unprecedented, and, as I understand, have created a fruitful topic of comment and discussion." "Twelve Years a Slave" is a memoir and slave narrative by American Solomon Northup. It was first published in 1853. In "Twelve Years a Slave" Solomon Northup describes how he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep South.