Twelve Years a Slave

Twelve Years a Slave

• Genre: Nonfiction; memoir
• Originally Published: 1853
• Reading Level/Interest: College/Adult
• Structure/Length: Introduction, 22 chapters; approx. 363 pages; approx. 7 hours, 51 minutes on audio
• Central Concern: Solomon Northup, a free Black man born in 1807, is kidnapped from the North and sold into slavery in New Orleans. For 12 years, he lives as an enslaved person until he finds someone willing to risk their life to deliver a letter to the North. Northup’s story captures the reality of slavery and plantation society in detail rarely seen in narratives regarding enslaved people.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Slavery; racism; human trafficking; racial slurs; extreme brutality; sexual violence; violence

Solomon Northup, Author

• Bio: 1807-1864; American abolitionist; born a free man in New York; farmer and professional violinist; was kidnapped in Washington, DC, while working as a traveling musician; spent 12 years enslaved in Louisiana before having a letter smuggled North, allowing the governor of New York to aid in his release; was unable to testify at the trial of James H. Birch, his enslaver, in Washington, DC, because of his race; was able to testify against him when New York opened a case against him; lectured on slavery in the years leading to the Civil War; some accounts suggest he aided in the Underground Railroad effort
• Awards: Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (Film version, 2014)