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Solomon Northup (born July 10, c. 1807–1808; died c. 1864) was an American abolitionist and the primary author of the memoir Twelve Years a Slave. A free-born African American from New York, he was the son of a freed slave and a free woman of color .
Aug 26, 2024 · 12 Years a Slave—a biopic about Solomon Northup, a black fiddler in New York who somehow wound up a slave in Louisiana from 1841 until the law rescued him in 1853—is the nearly universally acclaimed frontrunner for the Best Picture Oscar.
- From Freedom to Bondage
- The Kidnapping of Solomon Northup
- 12 Years as A Slave
- How Solomon Northup Escaped Slavery
- What Happened to Solomon Northup?
Born in 1807 or 1808 in Minerva, New York, Solomon Northup (portrayed by Chiwetel Ejiofor in the film) spent the first part of his life free. His father, Mintus, had been enslaved but was freed upon his master’s death, and Northup spent his childhood free to use his leisure time to read books or play the violin, his “ruling passion.” Able to marry ...
In 1841, Solomon Northup crossed paths with two men who called themselves “Hamilton” and “Brown.” As BlackPastreports, Northup was looking for employment in Saratoga Springs, New York, when the two men invited him to play his violin in New York City. Then, they insisted that he accompany them for a circus job in Washington, D.C. “They promised me a...
After the long journey by ship, Solomon Northup found himself in New Orleans, where he witnessed the heartbreaking separation of a woman named Eliza from her two children. And just like in the film, Northup and Eliza were both purchased by the same man, William Ford (portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch). But Northup’s recollection of his time in bond...
After 12 years as a slave, Solomon Northup found himself a free man in 1853. And the sequence of events that led to his release is fairly similar between his memoir and the movie. Both hinge on a man named Bass (Brad Pitt). As Northup tells it, Bass was a Canadian man who’d lived in Louisiana for a couple of years. While listening to a conversation...
In the aftermath of his escape, Solomon Northup achieved great fame after publishing his memoir (as told to David Wilson) Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1853. During a time when abolitionists were seen as fringe characters, it offered Americans across t...
- Kaleena Fraga
Aug 30, 2024 · Solomon Northup, American farmer, laborer, and musician whose experience of being kidnapped and sold into slavery was the basis for his book Twelve Years a Slave (1853), which was adapted into an award-winning film in 2013. Learn more about Northup’s life in this article.
- Solomon Northup wrote Twelve Years a Slave (1853), a memoir of his kidnapping and enslavement. Immensely popular upon its release, it remains one o...
- Solomon Northup was born a free person of colour. His father, who had been born into slavery but freed when his master died, acquired a farm and en...
- In 1841 Solomon Northup was recruited by two men, supposedly to join their circus act as a fiddler. The three traveled from New York to Washington,...
- Solomon Northup worked odd jobs and established a reputation as a talented fiddler. Following his kidnapping and 12 years of enslavement, he wrote...
Oct 31, 2013 · While enslaved, did Solomon Northup pleasure a woman he discovered was in bed with him? No, the flash-forward scene that unfolds early in the 12 Years a Slave movie is entirely fictitious and was created by director Steve McQueen and screenwriter John Ridley.
Mar 2, 2014 · When a free black man named Solomon Northup was rescued from 12 years of bondage in January of 1853, a fellow slave, a young woman named Patsey, called after him tearfully.
12 Years a Slave presents enslaved women with a depth and dignity that Solomon Northup’s Odyssey does not. Parks should not be entirely faulted for this, as studies of slavery at the time of his film had yet to fully acknowledge the experiences of enslaved women.
