Solomon Northup
Born: 01-01-1808
Solomon Northup was an African American farmer, musician, and abolitionist born free in New York in 1807. He is best known for his memoir "Twelve Years a Slave," which recounts his harrowing experience of being kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841. After regaining his freedom, Northup became an advocate for abolition, using his story to shed light on the brutal realities of slavery in the United States.
Book summaries for books written by Solomon Northup
Quotes
I don't want to live like this. I am a free man!
I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact.
I was a stranger in a strange land, and my home after all was down in the Bayou State, where I was born, where my friends were, and where my kindred still resided.
It was a source of pleasure to me, in after years—whether the statement be true or false—that I was sold on account of my resistance.
I was not only a freeman but a well-educated one, able to read and write.
I was nothing. Less than nothing. Despised, abused, cursed—was the common lot of slaves.
I was now a slave, and the thought was a dagger to my heart.
There may be humane masters, as there certainly are inhuman ones—there may be slaves well-clothed, well-fed, and happy, as there surely are those half-clad, half-starved and miserable; nevertheless, the institution that tolerates such wrong and inhumanity as I have witnessed, is a cruel, unjust and barbarous one.
I prayed for light, and I trust I have been heard.
The secrets of slavery are concealed like those of the Inquisition.
I could have hugged the man for his good nature.
I prayed for patience and faith. It was not long before I had to test them.