Twelve Years a Slave

This book is helpful interpretively as it helps the reader understand the relatively recent departure from an interpretation that slavery was an unprofitable and necessary evil in which African-Americans were usually treated well and benefited from their relationships with whites. Such traditions and interpretations have educated many visitors.

The act of violence also contributes to the dehumanization and the “breaking down” of the slaves. Slaves were beaten, and whipped daily, subjected to cruel torture. Northup describes these acts of violence in his narrative very vividly.

There has been many historians and theorists who have tackled colonial slavery. One of them is Ira Berlin whose book Many Thousands Gone is his take on slavery diversity in American history and how slavery is at the epicenter of economic production, amongst other things. He separates the book into three generations: charter, plantation and revolutionary, across four geographic areas: Chesapeake, New England, the Lower country and the lower Mississippi valley. In this paper, I will discuss the differences between the charter and plantation generations, the changes in work and living conditions, resistance, free blacks and changes in manumission.

Historical debates about the enslavement period of America is constantly being developed and refined as new primary sources and research in academic areas progress. Stephanie Camp brings a new historical perspective that attempts to build on previous historical debates by building on underdeveloped areas of America’s Antebellum Period. It is therefore vital to understand the previous historical debates and the arguments that align and contend with Camp’s argument. The broader and earlier historical contentions of the Slave South tend to focus on the behaviour and repressive nature of slaves rather than the formation of rebellion in the South. Historian Kenneth Stampp who wrote The Peculiar Institution (1956) helped to redefine and focus on

As we already noted – in the 1800s expediency of slavery was disputed. While industrial North almost abandoned bondage, by the early 19th century, slavery was almost exclusively confined to the South, home to more than 90 percent of American blacks (Barney W., p. 61). Agrarian South needed free labor force in order to stimulate economic growth. In particular, whites exploited blacks in textile production. This conditioned the differences in economic and social development of the North and South, and opposing viewpoints on the social structure. “Northerners now saw slavery as a barbaric relic from the past, a barrier to secular and Christian progress that contradicted the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and degraded the free-labor aspirations of Northern society” (Barney W., p. 63).

In this essay, Stampp argues that slaves are the victims to a cruel system designed to take advantage of them. He fights for the sides of the slaves, portraying them as helpless in a world of pain and suffering. To prove this he looks toward the slaves who fake injury, ignorance, and even pregnancy to avoid having to work. This “preoccupation of bondsmen” as Stampp says, was a “Striking refutation of the myth that slavery survived because of the cheerful acquiescence of the slaves.” (Stampp 301) In this essay, Stampp is standing up against the idea that slaves are weak and incapable of functioning as free men. People said that the slaves had accepted their fate as slaves and were alright with it, but Stampp says they have not given up their will to fight for their freedom and that their rights as people will come. Stampp’s portrayal of slaves as the victim is in direct alignment with the shooting of Michael Brown in which Michael was made the victim far before anyone knew what really happened. The slaves that Stampp writes about all are sad and distraught but it’s possible that there may have been slaves who were in fact not too unhappy with their lives. In this instance, there is only one point of view, so another document with the counter to Stampp’s must be examined as

Slavery was a central institution in American society during the late eighteenth century, and was accepted as normal and applauded as a positive thing by many white Americans. In the 1770’s, there were approximately 400,000 blacks in the Southern colonies and 50,000 in the Northern colonies. Slaves were central to the operation of the colonies, especially in the South where they were a crucial element of the labour force. They were treated as inferiors, but living alongside whites, and essential as an exploited labouring class. On one hand, people were advocating liberty from slavery, while at the same time relying on slaves to drive the economy.

In American history, every event and person plays a part in the future. For example, rich plantation owners helped America advance their economy. However, that would not have been at all possible without the help of their slaves. The time and institution of slavery is a time of historical remembrance. It played a primary role during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. The treatment, labor conditions, and personal stories of these slaves’ treatment and labor conditions are all widely discussed around the world to this day.

The film 12 Years a Slave, an adaptation of the 1853 autobiography by a slave named Solomon Northup, depicts his everyday life after his rights and freedoms are ripped away. Through the unpleasant slave auction scenes to the sickening slave punishments, 12 Years a Slave is a heartbreaking story that unfortunately conveys the harsh truth on the issues surrounding slavery. Consequently, during the film there are many themes and events that trigger different thoughts and reactions varying between viewers, and importantly a better understanding of Solomon Northup’s story and slavery itself.

After reading Solomon Northup's Twelve Years A Slave, I was overwhelmed with his experience. He was born a free man in New York in 1808. In 1841 he was tricked, captured, and sold into slavery in Washington, D.C. Throughout his book, Solomon goes into details describing his life as a slave, which validates our critique of slavery. As abolitionists, it is our duty to do something about slavery. Although, as abolitionists, we have a history of disagreements among us, it time to put a stop to our arguments and start fighting for something we all believe in - to abolish slavery. While the growing cotton economy has made slavery more attractive than ever before to most southern people, slavery has to be abolished based on these reasons:

My choice of the movie 12 Years a Slave is an outstanding depiction of the lives of slaves in the 1840’s. This film follows the gruesome life of Solomon Northup. A black man born free in Saratoga, New York. Who was fooled, poisoned, and abducted by men who sold him into slavery. The movie is based on the book called “Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1853, From a Cotton Plantation Near the Red River, in Louisiana.”

The controversies surrounding slavery have been established in many societies worldwide for centuries. In past generations, although slavery did exists and was tolerated, it was certainly very questionable,” ethically“. Today, the morality of such an act would not only be unimaginable, but would also be morally wrong. As things change over the course of history we seek to not only explain why things happen, but as well to understand why they do. For this reason, we will look further into how slavery has evolved throughout History in American society, as well as the impacts that it has had.

Even though freedom has been our nation’s identity for its entire existence, our nation has suffered “dark ages” when the freedoms of African Americans were repressed. During the period of slavery, African Americans were forced to labor under often cruel and gruesome conditions, for their white masters. Solomon Northup, a free man forcefully made a slave, describes his thoughts on slavery in his 12 Years a Slave:

Whites have long argued that slavery was good for slaves because it civilized them and that slaves were content to be held in bondage. But such is not the case, at least not according to those who were actually held in bondage. The accounts of slavery are greatly known by emancipated or run away slaves. One recorded account of slavery is by Solomon B. Northup’s autobiography, Twelve Years a Slave which was published in 1853.

Solomon’s Northup ‘12 Years a Slave’ is an autobiography book that narrates his life journey in regaining his freedom as a freeman. He emphasizes the concept of racism and freedom in his ‘12 Years a Slave’. This essay explores the research question “How does Northup portray the concept of racism and freedom in the novel ‘12 Years A Slave’?”. This essay begins with an introduction that outlines the background of racism and freedom in the novel and how the novel has provided detailed information that helps in analyzing. The essay continues with outlines of racism that occurs during 1840’s. The main analysis is included in the body; racism during Solomon’s abduction, how were they treated by his masters, what were his thoughts and