Solomon Northup
a free man kidnapped into slavery · New York, USA · Louisiana · 1807?–?
Born a free man in New York State, where he farmed and played the violin. In 1841 he was kidnapped in Washington and worked as a slave on Louisiana plantations for twelve years. Freed in 1853, he set it all down in a book. Little is known of his later life or of when he died.
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1853
Having been born a freeman, and for more than thirty years enjoyed the blessings of liberty in a free State—and having at the end of that time been kidnapped and sold into Slavery, where I remained, until happily rescued in the month of January, 1853, after a bondage of twelve years—it has been suggested that an account of my life and fortunes would not be uninteresting to the public.
Twelve Years a Slave, the first sentence
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