Published in 1853, Twelve Years a Slave is Solomon Northup’s firsthand account of being kidnapped in Washington, D.C., in 1841 and sold into slavery on Louisiana cotton plantations, where he laboured for twelve years before being rescued. A free Black man from New York, Northup describes the brutal conditions of plantation slavery with calm, devastating precision.
One of the most important slave narratives ever written and the basis of the 2013 Academy Award-winning film, this memoir is essential American history. Download the free EPUB and read Northup’s unforgettable testament to human resilience and the horror of slavery.