Twelve Years a Slave Solomon Northup (android e book reader .txt) đ
- Author: Solomon Northup
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By Solomon Northup.
Table of Contents Titlepage Imprint Dedication Epigraph Editorâs Preface Twelve Years a Slave I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI XXII Appendix A B C Endnotes Colophon Uncopyright ImprintThis ebook is the product of many hours of hard work by volunteers for Standard Ebooks, and builds on the hard work of other literature lovers made possible by the public domain.
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âIt is a singular coincidence, that Solomon Northup was carried to a plantation in the Red River countryâ âthat same region where the scene of Uncle Tomâs captivity was laidâ âand his account of this plantation, and the mode of life there, and some incidents which he describes, form a striking parallel to that history.â
Key to Uncle Tomâs Cabin, p. 174To
Harriet Beecher Stowe:
throughout the world, is identified with the
great reform:
this narrative, affording another
key to Uncle Tomâs Cabin
is respectfully dedicated.
âSuch dupes are men to custom, and so prone
To reverence what is ancient, and can plead
A course of long observance for its use,
That even servitude, the worst of ills,
Because delivered down from sire to son,
Is kept and guarded as a sacred thing.
But is it fit, or can it bear the shock
Of rational discussion, that a man
Compounded and made up, like other men,
Of elements tumultuous, in whom lust
And folly in as ample measure meet,
As in the bosom of the slave he rules,
Should be a despot absolute, and boast
Himself the only freeman of his land?â
When the editor commenced the preparation of the following narrative, he did not suppose it would reach the size of this volume. In order, however, to present all the facts which have been communicated to him, it has seemed necessary to extend it to its present length.
Many of the statements contained in the following pages are corroborated by abundant evidenceâ âothers rest entirely upon Solomonâs assertion. That he has adhered strictly to the truth, the editor, at least, who has had an opportunity of detecting any contradiction or discrepancy in his statements, is well satisfied. He has invariably repeated the same story without deviating in the slightest particular, and has also carefully perused the manuscript, dictating an alteration wherever the most trivial inaccuracy has appeared.
It was Solomonâs fortune, during his captivity, to be owned by several masters. The treatment he received while at the âPine Woodsâ shows that among slaveholders there are men of humanity as well as of cruelty. Some of them are spoken of with emotions of gratitudeâ âothers in a spirit of bitterness. It is believed that the following account of his experience on Bayou BĆuf presents a correct picture of Slavery, in all its lights and shadows, as it now exists in that locality. Unbiased, as he conceives, by any prepossessions or prejudices, the only object of the editor has been to give a faithful history of Solomon Northupâs life, as he received it from his lips.
In the accomplishment of that object, he trusts he has succeeded, notwithstanding the numerous faults of style and of expression it may be found to contain.
David Wilson
Whitehall, NY, May, 1853.
Twelve Years a Slave IIntroductoryâ âAncestryâ âThe Northup Familyâ âBirth and parentageâ âMintus Northupâ âMarriage with Anne Hamptonâ âGood resolutionsâ âChamplain canalâ âRafting excursion to Canadaâ âFarmingâ âThe violinâ âCookingâ âRemoval to Saratogaâ âParker and Perryâ âSlaves and slaveryâ âThe childrenâ âThe beginning of sorrow.
Having been born a freeman, and for more than thirty years enjoyed the blessings of liberty in a free stateâ âand 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 yearsâ âit 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.
I can speak of slavery only so far as it came under my own observationâ âonly 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.
As far back as I have been able to ascertain, my ancestors on the paternal side were slaves in Rhode Island. They belonged to a family by the name of Northup, one of whom, removing to the state of New York, settled at Hoosic, in Rensselaer County. He brought with him Mintus Northup, my father. On the death of this gentleman, which must have occurred some fifty years ago, my father became free, having been emancipated by
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