Why Is Solomon Parris Reluctant To Work In Slavery

Solomon Northup was born free, in Minerva, New York in 1808. Northup became known in his community as an exceptional fiddle player. When two men approached Northup and offered him good wages to go to Washington DC, to play in a travelling music show, he quickly accepted. Solomon Northup was drugged, kidnapped, captured, and sold into slavery. He served for many masters; some were violent and cruel while others treated him humanely. Solomon Northup experienced shear torture, cruelty, and the loss of his dignity, throughout his many years as a slave. After many years, he came in contact with an abolitionist, who sent letters to Northup’s family to notify them of his life and status. He was soon rescued from Louisiana and freed as a slave.

The first mention of slavery in the Bible is found in Noah's declaration, "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers" (Gen. 9:25). He said this after waking up from a naked, drunken stupor and learning that his son Ham had mocked him. Although Ham was the guilty party, Noah's statement was directed at Ham's youngest son Canaan. If he was involved with his father in this act of disrespect, the statement can be taken as the pronouncement of a curse, "Cursed be Canaan." It is possible, however, that Canaan did not join his father in making fun of Noah. If so, the statement would be in the form of a prophecy: "Cursed will be Canaan." Exodus 20:5 and Ezekiel 18:4 clearly declare that God punishes

Northup sets out to convince readers that his account of slavery is the truth. The detailed accounts that Solomon took to recreate his slave experience proves to be effective. Solomons story takes the aspect of being a free man, to enslavement in the South. Northup uses great parallelism in his narrative, often

Peter Tanner who is the brother-in-law of Ford tried to give the impression to Solomon of being a harsh slave owner, however Solomon sees the humorous side of Tanner. Just like Ford “Tanner was in the habit of reading the Bible to his slaves on the Sabbath, but in a somewhat different spirit.” (Page 127) Unlike the sermons of Ford, Tanner used the bible to justify the whipping of his slaves:

Solomon was without work and needed to find a job to help support his family. He is over the moon excited when he finds out that the job he took was not the job he signed up for. He was drugged, kidnapped, and held as a slave. The way that it was spoken about when he first got there made you understand that people turning slaves in by tricking them was not unheard of. Brown and Hamilton promised Northup he would meet the circus in New York City, they promised he’d meet the circus in Washington D.C., they promised him high wages, they promised a quick departure from Washington D.C., then “postponed” it, forcing Northup to stay longer than planned in slave territory. These were all lies told. They even sat there and promised him safety in slave territory, but when he was drugged and Brown and Hamilton disappeared leaving him behind. He was a free man, rules are rules, and he should not have been taken. This however shows you that people don’t always play by the rules. However, it was very abrupt of him at the same time. He needed money to support his family and because of that he didn’t really look as deep into the job proposition as he could have.

Ford was known as being very kind to Solomon. However, William Prince Ford had to give Solomon back to the slave market due to finances. Northup’s second owner was John M. Tibaut who was very brutal to Solomon. Northup was later rescued by Ford’s overseer, Andrew Chafin. He was then sent to Edwin Epps and was a slave under him for the next ten years. His owner, Edwin Epps, put Solomon in charge over the rest of the slaves. Solomon tried many times to escape, but was never successful. Finally, in June of 1852, he was able to send letters to his friends and family back home in New York. In these letters, he told them where he was and all that had happened to him. In November of 1852, there was a widespread search in order to find Solomon. Solomon was found in the same year. On January 4, 1853, Solomon legally obtained total freedom. He was then reunited with his family and friends.

Platt is a horrible cotton picker so Epps hires him out to a man named Hawkins who is a sugar cane grower. Platt becomes the lead row for 3 years on the cane field. Around Christmas time, the slaves get 3 days off. Other plantations get 4, 5, or 6 days off depending on how generous their masters are. Around the holidays, Platt is hired by the neighboring farmers to play the violin. He starts making some extra money, and is very happy. Before long he becomes the driver. This is a position of authority and he uses it to be easy on the slaves when the master isn 't close by. He is the driver for several years and becomes very good at fake whipping the slaves. It has been a while since Platt has run into any conflicts when one night Epps comes home drunk and tries to cut Platt 's throat. Epps tells Platt he is not to have a pen, paper, or any books. Right around this time, Platt gets a hold of a piece of paper. He makes ink out of bark and a pen out of a duck feather. He writes a letter, it is his chance to save himself from this cursed life. One day a white man named Arsby comes to try and get the job of overseer. He works with the slaves for a while when Platt gets up the courage to ask him if he will mail the letter for him. Arsby tells Epps about his encounter with Platt. When Epps finds out he goes right to Platt and confronts him about it. Platt convinces Epps that he cannot write a letter and if he could he doesn 't even have anyone to write to. He tells Epps that

Solomon Northup’s situation molded his character to help the slaves he met around him and to use his experience to educate others as to what happened inside of the plantations. Northup was unique compared to the other slaves he would work with. His first master, Burch, had to torture him and scare him from telling other slaves and masters that he was a free man and was kidnapped. After he was sold to Freeman, his name was changed to Platt. Northup decided it was best to not make a fuss about it and stay quiet, as he learned from Burch. It is evident that he is not only careful when making decisions, but also thinks about the long-term effect those decisions could have. Another decision he had to make was with his last master, Edwin Epps. Epps

Through Solomon Northup’s story, viewers learn that socioeconomic status is no exception from racial realities. Solomon Northup was an educated, refined free black in the 1840s. His only mistake was thinking that being born free meant he was safe from the demonstration of white supremacy in America. Especially during this time, it didn't matter that he was educated, musically talented, and a family man, a person of color was threatened in a white, capitalist society and through the heartbreaking story of Solomon Northup, 12 Years a Slave shows this sad time in American

survive and comply the master’s orders, beaten and labored until their bodies just couldn’t take it anymore, the conditions that a typical slave would experience on a daily basis. When you hear these conditions being depicted, you’d instantaneously think of an animal that is being captivated. However, in this situation, slaves are often seen as livestock, sometimes even less than that. Slaves weren’t considered humans, even though they shared the same characteristics of being human as a slave master. Slaves were property, and if they were lucky enough, they were considered very expensive livestock. Solomon Northup’s experience, which is depicted in Twelve Years a Slave, written by himself, demonstrates the daily lives of subordinates. Solomon Northup was an American abolitionist, prior to that, a free-man-turned slave. Being a slave stripped Northup of his identity. Solomon Northup was a freed family-man, violinist, living the typical life of a freed African American man in the 19th Century. According to Girogio Agamben, bare life is ____________ and Northup was deprived of that. Solomon had self-emancipation, to be a free man, self-empowerment, to be able to have power, and self-enlightenment, to be able to convey knowledge. All of that was torn from him, as the fellows who’d kidnapped and enslaved him, gave him a new identity as Platt.

In the book 12 Years A Slave written from a primary source by Solomon Northup based on a true story describes the triumphant journey Solomon Northup goes through as he never lost hope of regaining his freedom and resisted the dehumanization of enslavement in many ways. Solomon was born a free black man in New York in 1808 while his father, Mintus was born a slave and gained his freedom as their master passed away also inheriting their masters last name "Northup". Growing Solomon worked on a farm with his dad and soon after his dad died in 1829 he soon married a women named Anne Hampton in which they soon moved to Saratoga Springs, New York and had three children of their own. They were living like any other free person was and soon Solomon was working in many industries and Anne established herself as a cook and in the 1830 's Solomon had a reputation of being a well played violinist. In 1841 Solomon had became unemployed and was looking for an occupation, he ran into Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton in who then offers him a job in a circus playing the violin. As they arrive in Washington D.C. which is slave territory, he begins to become sick and passes out which was planned by Merrill and Abram to poison and kidnap him in the slave territory and sell him in which he soon wakes up in chains in a slave pen. Solomon 's first master was James H. Burch who he was sold by the two men who had

Solomon still wanted to return home and to his free man status. There was not a slave who did not want their freedom. No matter how pleasant or nasty a master was, it is human nature to need freedom. In Twelve Years a Slave it does not appear that a master would feel the obligation to care for his slaves from birth to death. In the case of death, it would be from premature death, not death from old age. As a slave lost his ability

During a time of cruel punishment and harsh conditions of life as a slave in the 19th century South, there was a book that shed a light on the life of a slave unparalleled in past as well as in modern literature. That book was entitled Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup. Northup was born a freeman that was obtained from his father after being freed by the Northup family due to loyal service. Growing up in the free state of New York, Solomon was allowed an education that was rare because of the sad disposition of the majority of his race. Solomon gained much knowledge of industry and hard work from his father. As a free man of color, he enjoyed various jobs and hobbies from timber raft building to playing

A slave just like Solomon, Patsey cannot escape her situation and becomes more and more suicidal as the aggression continues. A minor character named Eliza Berry dealt with breach of contract from here slave owner’s heirs regarding the emancipation of her and her kids. Unable to deal with the grief she mourned them until her death. Mistress Epps dealt with adultery from her husband Edwin Epps who would rape his slaves such as Patsey. All of the slaves as a whole dealt with either kidnapping, battery, forced labor, and or murder.

Out of all Northup's masters, Master Epps' has to be the worse. He's a cruel, rude, selfish man who cares for no one but himself. Although others may say the contrary, I believe making good first expressions is always important, and Edwin Epps made a horrible first impression. The second Northup arrived, Master Epps' already had him performing difficult tasks around the plantation. These jobs can range from picking cotton on a blistering hot day to carrying heavy metals back and from the house. Edwin Epps, in my eyes, is a very abusive master, although beating slaves is the correct thing to do, he tends to take it to an extreme level. He beats them and strangles them for whatever reason, although they may not be doing anything wrong. If I were a slave and if I worked for Edwin Epps, himself, I'm pretty sure I'll be dead. Not for doing the work incorrectly, but for talking back when I knew I couldn't. Instead of leaving the slaves to perish, he would use his own hands to beat them, to feel the presumptuous thrill running through their bare flesh. It seems like hell to an outsider, but I'm sure it gets better once you're experiencing it or does it? There was one thing Northup enjoyed that lifted his spirits, and that was looking at Miss Patsey. The way he described her, made the readers think that he wanted to devour her in just one look. To me personally; seems as if Northup was describing a dog instead of Patsey. Using foul language such as, "faithful, loyal, and