Twelve Years A Slave: What's Inside

Twelve Years a
Slave
Study Guide by Course Hero
The title Twelve Years a Slave represents the number of years

What's Inside Solomon Northup, a free African American man, was enslaved
in the South.
j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1
d In Context ..................................................................................................... 1
d In Context
a Author Biography ..................................................................................... 3
h Key Figures ................................................................................................. 4

Antebellum Slave Narrative
k Plot Summary ............................................................................................. 9
The slave narrative is a type of memoir written by a person
c Chapter Summaries .............................................................................. 15 who is a slave or has been a slave at some point in their life.
Antebellum slave narratives were written about the experience
g Quotes ........................................................................................................ 29
of slavery in the antebellum (literally "before the war") period
l Symbols ..................................................................................................... 32 prior to the American Civil War (1861–65). The slave narrative
has become a genre within African American literature on
m Themes ...................................................................................................... 33 which scholars rely for accurate portrayals of slavery from the
perspective of the enslaved. Memoirs written by slaveholders
or other white people have tended to whitewash (gloss over or
revise) the experience of slavery in the South. In contrast, slave
j Book Basics narratives allow readers to begin to understand the true evil of
the institution of slavery, a system that, in the United States,
AUTHOR allowed human beings to be considered as disposable
Solomon Northup property.
YEAR PUBLISHED In addition to Solomon Northup's memoir Twelve Years a Slave,

1853 popular slave narratives in the canon of African American
literature include diplomat Frederick Douglass's (c. 1818–95)
GENRE Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,
History, Memoir Written by Himself (1845) and My Bondage and My Freedom
(1855), along with author Harriet Jacobs's (1813–97) Incidents
PERSPECTIVE AND NARRATOR
in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861). Jacobs was the first African
Solomon Northup is the narrator of Twelve Years a Slave. He
American woman to publish an autobiography. Her perspective
tells his own story from the first-person point of view.
reveals the sexual abuse that was so common in slaveholders'
TENSE treatment of female slaves. It also gave voice to the strength of
Twelve Years a Slave is written in the past tense. women who fought for their freedom and that of their children.
The largest collection of slave narratives based on interviews
ABOUT THE TITLE of former slaves is the result of the WPA (Works Progress
Twelve Years a Slave Study Guide In Context 2
Administration) Federal Writers' Project, which was conducted reach safety—was a secret network of houses that allowed
in the 1930s and 40s. The project collected and published 40 slaves to reach Northern states. Many of the houses belonged
volumes of testimony from over 2,500 former slaves, 17 to white abolitionists, but free African Americans also had
volumes of which have been archived by the Library of stations along the Underground Railroad. When Northup was
Congress. Slave narratives have influenced African American freed from slavery, his home in Saratoga Springs, New York,
literature in other genres as well, including fiction and poetry. was a station on the Underground Railroad. Harriet Tubman (c.
They continue to serve as a counteraction against negative 1820–1913) escaped slavery and became free but returned to
attitudes toward race and institutional racism in America. the South on 19 separate occasions. Using the Underground
Railroad, Tubman brought back with her hundreds of slaves
seeking freedom in the North.
Freedom in the North Freedom was never guaranteed in the Northern states if a
runaway slave landed in a white neighborhood rather than an
All Northern states, some of which began their statehood as
African American neighborhood. Some white people assisted
free states, abolished slavery by 1804. Not all of them,
slave catchers, and the law allowed a slave catcher or owner
however, freed slaves as soon as slavery was abolished. In
to take a slave back to the South. In addition, the work
Pennsylvania, for example, slaves were not free until they
available to African Americans was menial and did not pay
reached age 28, and this rule was enforced until the Civil War
much. Discrimination on all fronts made life in the Northern
era. But slaves' desire to leave Southern states and seek
states difficult for free African Americans. To avoid
freedom was strong, and the further into the Northern states
discrimination and slave catchers, many former slaves
one went, the easier it was to remain free.
continued north to Canada. Once over the border, they
Easier did not mean easy, however. Slaves from the deep believed they had gone farther than a slave catcher would be
South had several hundred miles to travel on foot to reach the willing to go to retrieve what he thought of as the owner's
Northern states, and they were in perpetual danger of being property. Some former slaves, like Frederick Douglass,
caught and returned to their masters. The slaves who remained in Northern states and told their stories to audiences
considered escape a possibility came mostly from the states of white people. Their experiences helped convince white
bordering the Northern region. Slaves often had to travel people that slavery was far worse than they could imagine, and
through Pennsylvania, and arrival in New York or many white people became abolitionists as a result.
Massachusetts was never completely devoid of danger. Slave
owners from the South hired people in the North to find their
slaves and return them for a bounty. Free African Americans, Slave Trade in the South
like Northup, were often kidnapped and sold as slaves. Without
their papers, free African Americans could not prove their Southern plantations were run almost entirely on the backs of
freedom. The worst cases of kidnapping, however, were of African American slaves. Owners of large plantations had
children. Children born to free African Americans often had to hundreds of slaves without whom they could not plant, harvest,
work to keep the family afloat because jobs available to African and process their cash crops—primarily tobacco and cotton.
Americans paid so little. Children working off debt were often Slaves were worked to death and replaced with new ones. The
sold as slaves after their obligations ended instead of being very few free African Americans who lived in the South were in
returned safely to their parents. African American children out constant danger of being kidnapped by slave traders and sold
with their families could also be easily snatched by slave into slavery again.
catchers, and since they did not carry papers, no one could
prove they were part of a free family and therefore free Beyond the violence many slaveholders inflicted on their
themselves. Such children were sold and abused in every way slaves, the day-to-day life of a slave was harsh. Slave quarters
imaginable, and many were not released until full emancipation were uncomfortable and provided little shelter. Some owners
(freedom) was declared. fed their slaves on little else but corn. However, the worst
punishment inflicted on slaves was the separation of the family
The Underground Railroad—a system in the Northern states unit. Those who purchased slaves rarely kept husbands and
prior to the Civil War that helped slaves escaping the South wives together, ignoring the bonds of marriage and the pleas
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Twelve Years a Slave Study Guide Author Biography 3
of the couples. Children were also regularly taken away from ruse. Northup was drugged, and his free papers and money
their mothers, in most cases were never seen again. A third of were confiscated. He was sold to James Burch, a slave trader
children below age 14 were taken from one or both parents who ran Williams's Slave Pen (a holding basement in
and sold to other owners. Owners who kept slave families Washington, D.C., where slaves were kept before they went to
together threatened them with separation as a way to get auction in the yard that was surrounded by a fence and guard
more work out of them. dogs). Northup was told to say he was a runaway slave from
Georgia named Platt, and he was beaten until he agreed to do
The passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 allowed the so. Burch shipped Northup to New Orleans, where the slave
return of slaves to their masters as property. This law made it trader Theophilus Freeman sold him to William Ford, a
easier for slave traders to kidnap free African Americans and plantation owner in the Louisiana Bayou Bœuf region. Ford
sell them into slavery, claiming they were returning slaves to then sold Northup to John M. Tibeats, a maniacal carpenter
their owners. As Northup reported, he was forced to say that who beat Northup regularly and mercilessly. Tibeats tried to kill
his name was Platt, a runaway slave from Georgia. When he Northup twice, the second time resulting in a confrontation
refused, he was beaten until he complied. Slave traders used during which Northup nearly choked Tibeats to death. Northup
this law to make an incredibly large amount of money. Because escaped into a swamp and landed at the small cotton
the South could not survive economically without their plantation of Edwin Epps. Epps bought Northup a violin to play
plantations, there was always a market for slaves. Ultimately, for Mary Epps, his wife, but Epps was also a drinker who
the slave trade was an industry for which the South was willing whipped Northup at the slightest provocation.
to go to war.
Escape from Slavery

a Author Biography
It wasn't until 1852 when Epps hired Samuel Bass, a Canadian
carpenter, that Northup saw his chance to get messages to
Early Life contacts in the North. Henry Northup, a lawyer in Saratoga,

New York, and a relative of Northup's father's former owner,
petitioned Governor Washington Hunt of New York to allow
Solomon Northup was born July 10, 1807, in Minerva, New York
him to rescue Northup. In January 1853 Henry Northup was
to Mintus and Susanna Northup. Mintus was a former slave
able to find Solomon Northup and take him out of slavery.
who became not only a free man but a landowner as well. As a
Henry Northup tried to take the slave trader James Burch to
landowner, Mintus was able to vote. Mintus taught young
court, but because Solomon Northup was African American, he
Solomon to read and write while Solomon assisted his father in
couldn't testify against Burch, and Burch was acquitted and
managing the farm.
released. A few days later, Northup and his family were
Northup married Anne Hampton in 1829. The couple had two reunited in Glens Falls, New York.
daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, and one son, Alonzo. In
1834 Northup and his family moved to Saratoga Springs, New
York, where he and his wife took menial jobs to make ends Twelve Years a Slave
meet. Northup also earned money by playing the violin, a skill
for which he became renowned. American lawyer and author David Wilson (1818–70) served as
Northup's editor and helped him publish his story, Twelve Years
a Slave, in 1853, with a second edition published in 1854. Within
Life as a Slave a year and a half, the book sold over 30,000 copies. Northup's
original captors were arrested and put on trial. However, the
In 1841 Northup was entrapped by two white men claiming to case was not resolved, and it was dropped in 1857. Northup
be circus performers. They convinced Northup to go on the continued to be an active abolitionist, performing in plays
road with them to make some extra money. The job prospect, based on his story and speaking at various events. His home
to play violin with a Washington, D.C., circus, turned out to be a was also a link on the Underground Railroad, a system in the

Twelve Years a Slave Study Guide Key Figures 4
Northern states prior to the American Civil War (1861–65) that

helped slaves escaping the South reach safety. It is believed Bass
that Northup died around 1863, but the circumstances of his
death remain unknown. Bass is a kind and intelligent Canadian carpenter and
abolitionist who works with Northup building a house for Edwin
For many years, Solomon Northup's story lost the interest of Epps. Bass befriends Northup, sends letters for him, and helps
the American reading public. But in the late 20th century, his him regain his freedom.
work and his legacy came to light again in his home town, and
interest has increased since. In 1999 Saratoga Springs
resident Renee Moore established Solomon Northup Day in Mistress Epps
honor of Northup, and in 2002, the city voted to make it a
yearly celebration. In 2013 British filmmaker Steve McQueen Mistress Epps is an educated and beautiful woman who saves
(b. 1969) created the film 12 Years a Slave based on the story. Northup from an attack by her husband. She treats all the
The movie won three Oscars. slaves well, except for Patsey, her husband's favorite victim.
Mistress Epps hates Patsey and has her husband beat her
often.
h Key Figures
Patsey
Solomon Northup Patsey, a young slave, is the fastest cotton picker on the Epps
plantation. Epps rapes her regularly, but he also beats her to
Solomon Northup is a free and educated African American
assuage his jealous wife.
man living in Saratoga Springs, New York, with his family. He
tries to earn more money but is kidnapped by slave traders.
Under the slave name "Platt," he is sold to a plantation owner in
the deep South. Northup, who endures 12 harsh years of
Eliza Berry
enslavement, tries to improve the lives of his fellow slaves. He
Eliza is locked up in Williams's Slave Pen with Northup. She
is finally rescued and reunited with his family.
loses both her children when she is sold to William Ford and
spends the rest of her life mourning her children.
Edwin Epps
Nicknamed "Old Hogjaw" by his slaves, Edwin Epps is the cruel
master who owns Solomon Northup for 10 of his 12 years of
slavery. Epps regularly gets drunk and beats his slaves. He
deprives them of food and forces them to dance for him. He is
uneducated and enjoys provoking people.
John Tibeats
John Tibeats is a cruel carpenter who insults and berates
Northup when they both work for William Ford. Tibeats gets
Northup as a slave as repayment for a debt. He tries to kill
Northup twice but sells him to Edwin Epps as revenge.

Key Figure Map
Edwin Epps
Coarse and cruel master;
Slave plantation owner
Spouses Friends
Mistress Epps Bass

Educated, accomplished, Slave Trustworthy, fair man;
and jealous woman carpenter and abolitionist
Friends
Solomon Northup
Educated, intelligent
free man; becomes a slave
Fellow
slaves
Slave
Patsey
John Tibeats
Strong and kind young
Friends Quick-tempered,
woman; spirit broken
spiteful man; carpenter
by abuse
Eliza Berry
Educated, intelligent
free woman; becomes
a slave
Main Key Figure
Other Major Key Figure
Minor Key Figure

Full Key Figure List Armsby is a white field worker who

works alongside the slaves at Edwin
Epps's plantation. He betrays Northup
Armsby
by promising to mail a letter in
Key Figure Description
exchange for money but reports him to
Epps instead.
Solomon Northup, renamed "Platt" as a
Solomon slave, is a free African American man
Arthur is locked up with Northup on
Northup who is kidnapped and sold into slavery
Arthur the boat to Louisiana but is rescued by
for 12 years.
his friends in New Orleans.
Edwin Epps is a large, coarse, cruel

John Baltese is the son-in-law of
master and the owner of two
John Baltese Cascalla, the chief of an indigenous
Edwin Epps plantations. He regularly beats and
tribe on Indian Creek.
subjects his slaves to deprivation and
owns Solomon Northup for 10 years.
Elisha Berry is the former master of
Eliza Berry. He fathers a child with
John Tibeats is a masochistic Elisha Berry
Eliza and grants her and her two
carpenter who hates Northup. Once
John Tibeats children freedom in his will.
he becomes Northup's master, he tries
to kill him.
Emily Berry is Eliza Berry's daughter
with her former master, Elisha Berry.
Bass is a Canadian carpenter and Emily Berry
She is separated from her mother at
Bass abolitionist who works with Northup
the slave pen in Louisiana.
and helps save him from slavery.
Randall Berry is Eliza Berry's son. He is

Mistress Epps is the wife of Edwin
Randall Berry separated from his mother at the slave
Epps. She has her husband beat
Mistress Epps pen in Louisiana.
Patsey, one of their slaves whom she
hates.
Bob is one of Phebe's sons and one of
Bob
Edwin Epps's field slaves.
Patsey is a young female slave who is
beautiful and happy at the beginning of
Patsey her life but becomes suicidal after Jacob Brooks is the husband of Mrs.
Edwin Epps repeatedly rapes and Brooks, Eliza Berry's new mistress. He
beats her. Jacob Brooks and his wife trick Eliza into being sold
into slavery instead of releasing her
according to Elisha Berry's will.
Eliza Berry is the mother of two
children, one by her master. She is
Eliza Berry
tricked into slavery by her dead Mrs. Brooks is the wife of Jacob
master's heirs. Brooks and the daughter of Elisha
Berry. She and her husband trick Eliza
Mrs. Brooks
Berry into being sold into slavery
Abram is one of Edwin Epps's older
instead of releasing her according to
slaves. He loves philosophy and is
Abram her father's will.
nicknamed "Uncle Abram" by his fellow
slaves.
Merrill Brown is one of two white men
who, under false pretenses, drug and
Antony is one of William Ford's slaves Merrill Brown
Antony kidnap Northup to sell to slave trader
and is a blacksmith.
James Burch.

James Burch is the evil slave trader Mistress Ford is the kindly wife of
Mistress Ford
who imprisons Northup in Williams's William Ford.
James Burch
Slave Pen and beats him when he tries
to tell him he is a free man.
William Ford is a noble, kind, and
religious man. He is Northup and Eliza
William Ford
Carey is a slaveholder and the owner Berry's first owner but sells Northup to
Carey of a large plantation next to that of John Tibeats to repay a debt.
Edwin Epps.
Theophilus Freeman is a slave trader

Cascalla is the chief of an indigenous who gets Northup from James Burch
Theophilus
tribe on Indian Creek. He becomes in New Orleans. He forces Northup to
Cascalla Freeman
acquainted with Northup on lumber take on the name "Platt" and sells him
runs for William Ford. to William Ford.
Celeste is one of Carey's slaves. She Genois is a recorder who writes a pass
Celeste
escapes and begs Northup for food. Genois for Henry Northup to travel safely with
Solomon Northup.
Chapin is the overseer at William

Ford's plantation. He is a kind man who Goodin is the owner of the slave pen in
Chapin
saves Northup from being lynched by Goodin Louisiana where Northup and Eliza
John Tibeats. Berry are sold.
Mrs. Chapin is the wife of Chapin, the Abram Hamilton is one of two white
Mrs. Chapin
overseer at William Ford's plantation. Abram men, who, under false pretenses, drug
Hamilton and kidnap Northup to sell to slave
trader James Burch.
Lew Cheney is a slave who
masterminded a slave escape but
Lew Cheney
ended up condemning his fellow slaves Henry is one of Phebe's sons and one
Henry
in order to save himself. of Edwin Epps's field slaves.
General Orville Clark is a friend of Governor Governor Washington Hunt of New

General Orville Northup's family. He testifies for Washington York permits Henry Northup to go to
Clark Northup against Burch in Washington, Hunt Louisiana to rescue Solomon Northup.
D.C.
John is a shy 16-year-old boy and the

John
Cook is one of John Tibeats's cook at William Ford's plantation.
Cook associates who tries to help lynch
Northup.
Lawson is a field worker and driver for
Lawson
Chapin.
Edward is Wiley and Phebe's son. He is
Edward
one of Edwin Epps's house slaves.
John Manning is an English sailor on
the boat carrying Northup to Louisiana.
Eldret is a plantation owner. John John Manning He mails a letter to Henry Northup for
Tibeats hires out Northup to Eldret to Solomon Northup and remains friends
Eldret
help him clear and process trees on with Northup.
his plantation.
Marshall is one of Edwin Epps's

Young Master Epps is the son of Marshall neighbors. He murders a man in an
Young Master Edwin and Mistress Epps. He is argument and gets away with it.
Epps learning from his father how to
become a cruel master.

Miss Mary McCoy hires Northup to Clemens Ray is one of Northup's

Miss Mary
play the violin at her slaves' Christmas fellow slaves in Williams's Slave Pen.
McCoy
celebration. He escapes on the way back to
Clemens Ray
Washington and stays in Northup's
brother-in-law's house on the way to
Alonzo Northup is Northup's son. He is Canada.
Alonzo five years old when his father is taken
Northup and works for 12 years to earn money
to help set him free. Robert is a large man chained to
Northup in the slave pens. He
Robert
befriends Northup but dies of smallpox
Anne Hampton is Northup's wife and on the boat to Louisiana.
the mother of their three children. She
Anne Hampton
is of white, African American, and
indigenous heritage. Rose is one of Mistress Ford's house
Rose
slaves.
Elizabeth Northup is one of Northup's
Elizabeth
daughters. She is 10 years old when Sally is one of Mistress Ford's house
Northup Sally
her father is taken. slaves and the mother of two children.
Henry B. Northup is a lawyer and a Sam is one of William Ford's slaves

Henry B.
relative of Mintus Northup's former Sam who becomes religious and studies the
Northup
owner. He helps set Northup free. Bible.
Margaret Northup is one of Northup's Shaw is the owner of the plantation

Margaret daughters. She is eight years old when next door to Edwin Epps. Epps
Shaw
Northup her father is taken and becomes the suspects Shaw is sleeping with his
mother of his first grandchild. slave, Patsey.
Cephas Parker is the owner of a store Harriet Shaw is Shaw's African

Cephas Parker in Saratoga Springs. He is one of the Harriet Shaw American wife. She is friends with
friends Northup writes to for help. Patsey.
William Perry is the owner of a store in Benjamin O. Shekels is a slave trader.

Benjamin O.
William Perry Saratoga Springs. He is one of the He is hired as a false witness by
Shekels
friends Northup writes to for help. James Burch at his trial.
Phebe, nicknamed "Aunt Phebe," is Solomon Solomon Northup Staunton is the son
one of Edwin Epps's house slaves. She Northup of Margaret Northup and is Solomon
Phebe is married to Wiley, with whom she has Staunton Northup's first grandchild.
a son, and has two children by a
former husband.
Peter Tanner is William Ford's brother-
in-law. He keeps Northup for a while,
Peter Tanner
Rachel is Mrs. Chapin's cook on using the Bible and beatings to keep
Rachel
William Ford's plantation. him in line.
Ebenezer Ebenezer Radburn is the assistant to Adam Taydem is Northup's white

Adam Taydem
Radburn James Burch, the slave trader. supervisor at the lumber mills.
Ramsay is one of John Tibeats's Benjamin A. Benjamin A. Thorn is hired by James

Ramsay
associates who tries to lynch Northup. Thorn Burch to bear false witness at his trial.

Twelve Years a Slave Study Guide Plot Summary 9
Northup marries Anne Hampton, and the couple has three

John P. Waddill is a lawyer in
Marksville, Louisiana. He helps Henry children. Both Northup and his wife work to support the family,
John P. Waddill
Northup find and rescue Solomon but they earn very little. Thus, when Northup is approached by
Northup. two white men offering him money to perform in a circus in
Washington, D.C., he takes them up on the offer and leaves
Walton is one of William Ford's slaves home.
Walton
and is married to Rose.
Wiley
Wiley is a middle-aged slave working in
Edwin Epps's field. He is married to
Sold into Slavery
Phebe.
The men drug and bind Northup, and he wakes up in Williams's
David Wilson is the editor who Slave Pen and is placed on the market as a slave. James
David Wilson transcribes Northup's story and has it Burch, a slave trader, forces Northup to keep his free status a
published as Twelve Years a Slave.
secret on pain of death. Burch ships Northup to New Orleans,
Louisiana. Northup makes friends with a man named John
Manning who is willing to take a letter to Henry Northup, a
k Plot Summary lawyer and a relative of Mintus's former owner. When they land,
Northup is placed in another slave pen, that of slave trader
Theophilus Freeman. Freeman strips Northup of his name,
calling him "Platt" and saying he is a runaway slave from
Editor's Preface Georgia. After a near-death experience with smallpox, Northup
is sold to William Ford, a plantation owner, along with a woman
Solomon Northup's memoir, Twelve Years a Slave, relates the named Eliza and a man named Harry. Eliza is separated from
story of how Northup, a free African American man, was both her children, which breaks her spirit. Northup's letter
kidnapped, sold into slavery, and kept by owners for nearly 12 reaches Henry Northup, but it's too late as Northup has been
years before he was freed. The book begins with an Editor's sold and is no longer in New Orleans.
Preface written by editor and transcriber David Wilson. Wilson
assures the reader that there is plenty of evidence to back up
what Northup has reported throughout the memoir. Wilson is Ford and Tibeats
satisfied that Northup is telling the truth because he is able to
repeat in such great detail the smallest of descriptions in the Ford is a gentle master who treats Northup well and is
same manner every time he speaks. generous to all his slaves. Northup invents a method to
improve the processing of lumber, which makes Ford
extremely happy with his slave. However, Ford is a terrible
Northup as a Free Man manager of money, and when he has to raise money to pay a
debt, he sells off many of his slaves. Northup is sold to John
Northup begins with his life story, starting with his father's Tibeats, a cruel carpenter with whom Northup had had trouble
background. Mintus Northup, a former slave, was freed by his in Ford's lumberyard. Tibeats insults Northup, beats him
owner. Mintus was a farmer who worked on a number of farms viciously, and threatens to kill him. Northup ends up whipping
and earned enough to buy land. Because he was both a free Tibeats on one occasion. When Tibeats tries to kill Northup
man and owned land, Mintus had the right to vote. with an ax, Northup overpowers him and nearly strangles him.
Fearing repercussions, Northup hides in the swamp, and Ford
Northup and his brother help their father on the farm and learn intervenes to save his life. To get revenge, Tibeats sells
to read and write under their father's tutelage. Northup also Northup to Edwin Epps, the owner of two plantations in Bayou
learns to play the violin and becomes known for his musical Bœuf.
talent.

rescued and taken to Washington, D.C., where he tries to get

Sale to Edwin Epps James Burch arrested, but Burch avoids the accusation, using
a false witness. Back in Saratoga Springs, the two men who
Edwin Epps is known as an extraordinarily cruel master. Epps's duped Northup are arrested for kidnapping. Northup learns
wife, Mistress Epps, is kind to her slaves but uses her husband that his son, Alonzo, is in the western part of New York and has
as her conduit to inflict punishment on the one female slave been trying to raise funds to free his father. He sees his
she hates, Patsey. Epps has raped Patsey numerous times, daughter Margaret with her son, his new grandson, Solomon
usually while drunk, and his wife knows he lusts after her. Northup Staunton, and then finally reunites his daughter
Mistress Epps makes her husband beat Patsey on a regular Elizabeth and his wife, Anne.
basis. Epps frequently deprives his slaves of necessities, barely
feeds them, and whips them daily no matter what they do.
Patsey's effort to get soap from a slave at a neighboring
plantation makes Epps believe the plantation owner is also
raping Patsey, and he accuses her of sleeping with his
neighbor. Mistress Epps sees an opportunity and sides with
her husband, even though she knows it's not true. Not wanting
to be the one to whip Patsey, Epps strips Patsey of her clothes
and makes Northup do it. Northup has no choice but to comply,
and it devastates him.
A Glimmer of Hope
Northup remains one of Epps's slaves for 10 horrible years and
thinks he is not going to live long enough to see his wife and
children again. But hope arrives in the form of a carpenter who
works with Northup on a house for Epps. The carpenter,
named Bass, is Canadian and an abolitionist. He regularly
argues with Epps in favor of the slaves. Northup looks for a
chance to talk to Bass alone, and when he does, he tells Bass
his story. Bass agrees to get letters to Northup's wife and
Henry Northup to tell them where Northup is being held as a
slave.
Free at Last
Henry Northup receives the letter and makes a plea with the
governor of New York to give him legal authority to retrieve
Northup. The governor agrees, and Henry Northup heads for
New Orleans to try to find Northup. No one knows the name
Solomon Northup, and Henry Northup doesn't know Northup's
slave name, Platt. It takes sleuthing to find out that Bass
worked at Bayou Bœuf where the letter came from, and that
Bass knew Northup's story and had mailed the letter. Henry
Northup goes to free Northup with the help of a sheriff,
knowing that Epps will not want to let a slave go. Northup is

Plot Diagram
Climax
11
10
12
9
Falling Action
Rising Action 8
13
7
6 14
5
15
4
Resolution
3
2
1
Introduction
to Ford.
Introduction
8. Eliza dies, and Tibeats sells Northup to Epps.
1. Solomon Northup is born in Minerva, New York. 9. Epps hires out Northup, gets Northup a violin, and beats
Patsey.
10. Armsby betrays Northup, and Epps makes Northup flog

Rising Action Patsey.
2. Northup is kidnapped by two men and bought by James

Burch.
Climax
3. Northup is taken by boat to Louisiana and renamed Platt.
11. Bass works for Epps, and Northup has Bass mail two
4. Manning mails a letter; Northup is sold to Ford. letters.
5. Northup works at Ford's mill and meets Tibeats.
6. Tibeats buys Northup and tries to lynch him but is stopped.

Falling Action
7. Tibeats attacks Northup, who runs to the swamp and back

12. Bass returns to Epps's and promises to free Northup.
13. Henry Northup finds Northup through Bass and frees him.
14. Henry Northup takes Burch to court, but Burch is

acquitted.
Resolution
15. Northup reunites with his wife, daughters, and new

grandson.

Timeline of Events
July 1808
Solomon Northup is born in Minerva, New York.
March 1841
Northup is kidnapped by two white men and put in a

slave pen.
Two weeks later
Northup and fellow slaves are shipped to Louisiana.
June 1841
Sailor John Manning agrees to send a letter for Northup.

Northup is given the name Platt.
Three days later
Northup arrives at William Ford's plantation where he

meets John Tibeats.
Winter 1842
Northup is sold to Tibeats to clear a debt. Tibeats tries

to lynch Northup but is stopped by Chapin.
A week later
Northup is rented to Peter Tanner, William Ford's

brother-in-law.
Sometime later
Tibeats tries to kill Northup. Northup escapes and makes

it to Ford's plantation.
Five weeks later
Northup visits Ford's plantation, Eliza dies, and Tibeats

sells Northup to Edwin Epps.
The next few weeks
Epps hires Northup out to other plantation owners.

Mistress Epps is jealous and has Patsey beaten.

A few years later
Armsby promises to mail a letter for Northup but tells

Epps Northup is trying to escape.
1850
Wiley tries to escape and is caught.
Sometime later
Patsey borrows soap from Shaw, and Epps makes

Northup flog her.
June 1852
Bass comes to work for Epps, and Northup has Bass

mail two letters.
Christmas 1852
Bass returns to Epps's plantation and promises to free

Northup. Northup is hired out to play violin.
Winter 1853
Henry Northup receives permission to find Northup,

located via Bass.
January 3, 1853
Henry Northup and John P. Waddill find Epps and free

Northup from enslavement.
January 18, 1853
Henry Northup takes James Burch to court, but Burch

hires false witnesses and is set free.
January 22, 1853
Northup reunites with his wife and daughters and meets

his grandson, Solomon Northup Staunton.

Twelve Years a Slave Study Guide Chapter Summaries 15
reading and writing to Northup and his brother. Northup also

c Chapter Summaries took violin lessons and became known for his musical talent.
He married a woman named Anne Hampton, and they had
three children together, Elizabeth, Margaret, and Alonzo. While
Editor's Preface his wife worked as a cook, Northup played the violin to earn
money and did odd jobs to make a living while living in
Saratoga Springs, New York.
Summary
Analysis
David Wilson, Solomon Northup's editor and transcriber, writes
that the book Twelve Years a Slave is much longer than he Northup gives details about his family, his early life, and his
thought it would be. He assures the reader that there is ample marriage because he wants to establish himself as a credible
evidence for most of the events, as Northup repeated the narrator. Right away, he makes sure the reader knows his
same story in exactly the same way every time he told it. father was a free man and that he was, therefore, born free.
Wilson says that when he and Northup went through the Making sure the reader doesn't question Northup's credibility is
manuscript, Northup made tiny corrections to details that only essential to the beginning of his memoir. He is releasing his
he could have known. story into a society in which African Americans are viewed as
inferior to whites, and he wants to make sure no one can
accuse him of exaggerating or lying.
Analysis
Northup also wants to clarify that prior to his kidnapping, he
Wilson's argument in the Editor's Preface is typical of a time had been living an honest life as a working man with a wife and
during which the words of an African American were rarely children he loved dearly. Later in the memoir, he acknowledges
believed. The negative reception surrounding Northup's that there will be people who side with the story told by the
testimony when he tried to bring his kidnappers and slave slave trader James Burch—that Northup willingly agreed to be
trader to justice was an indication of how the story might be a slave. This accusation is preposterous, but at the time
perceived by white readers. Wilson wants to make sure that Northup is writing his memoir, it is important to address these
Northup has the backing of a white man at the start of his book kinds of possible responses. In addition, Northup is a man who
to acknowledge the truth of the story. He also wants people to supports abolitionists and assists slaves who want to be free.
know that he is the person who wrote down the story so that In order to get the reader to agree with the abolitionist agenda,
any mistakes will not be blamed on Northup. he has to connect with the reader on a personal level. The
details of his love for his wife and children and the exact
details about the house he lived in and the work he did help
Chapter 1 make readers empathize with his loss. In order to get readers
to see just how evil slavery is, Northup has to set up the story
in a way that will capture the reader's heart. He also wants to
Summary get the attention of people who are already abolitionists, to

give them ammunition for their argument that slavery must be
Northup begins his memoir by discussing his background and abolished. In fact, when he does publish the book with the help
his life growing up. He was born in Minerva, New York, in July of Wilson, African American diplomat Frederick Douglass (c.
1808. His father, Mintus Northup, worked for the Northup 1818–95) gives the book a shining review, supporting his story
family—which is where the last name came from—and was wholeheartedly as the awful truth about slavery.
granted freedom when his master passed away. Thus, young
Solomon Northup was born free. He spent his childhood
working on his father's farm. Mintus bought enough land to be
able to vote as a landowner and passed on his knowledge of

there are people in the world corrupt enough to strip him of his
Chapter 2 freedom. Northup's faith in the protections his freedom has
given him is shattered. He tells the reader how this realization
affects him, describing how he can do nothing but cry and sit in
Summary his chains.
Northup relates how he and his wife are not making ends meet
and how he needs to find a way to make extra money to Chapter 3
support his family. Northup is looking for work in Saratoga
Springs and is approached by Merrill Brown and Abram
Hamilton, two white men who appear respectable. Brown and
Hamilton propose that Northup accompany them to New York
Summary
City to play violin in a circus. Northup agrees and travels to
Northup's despair is interrupted by the arrival of James Burch,
New York City with the two men, but the circus has apparently
a slave trader, and his associate, Ebenezer Radburn. Northup
moved on. Brown and Hamilton manage to convince Northup
describes Burch as "sinister and repugnant." He discovers
that he should continue on with them to Washington, D.C., to
where he is, in Williams's Slave Pen, which is attached to the
meet up with the circus there. They pay him the beginning of
back of an otherwise unassuming residential home near the
what they say will be decent wages. He has no reason to
capitol building. The places where Northup and other slaves
believe they are lying to him until he becomes ill after eating a
are held are like cellar stalls for livestock with a farmyard for
meal and drinking with them. They say they will take him to a
exercise. Burch informs Northup that he has purchased him as
doctor, but he loses consciousness on the way. When he
a slave and will be transporting him to New Orleans. Northup
wakes up, Northup finds himself bound in chains in a dark
protests that he is a free man with a family and children, but
room. He realizes he has been kidnapped, although he finds it
Burch insists he is a runaway from Georgia. When Northup
hard to believe that anyone would do this to him. His money
continues to protest, Radburn hands the cat-o'-ninetails and
and his papers are gone, and it becomes clear to Northup that
the paddle to Burch, who beats Northup until he can no longer
Brown and Hamilton have lured him into captivity. He begins to
speak. Burch threatens to kill Northup if he ever speaks of
weep as a sense of despair overwhelms him.
being free again.
Northup meets Clemens Ray, a kind and wise older man; Eliza
Analysis Berry with her children, Randall and Emily; and other slaves
who are being held in the slave pen. Eliza is the former slave
Northup is lured to Washington, D.C., which is in slave territory, and mistress of Elisha Berry, a white man who left his wife to
but he thinks that since he has papers, he will be okay. He live in a house with Eliza and promised in his will that she and
thinks these two white men will protect him because they have her children would be free. When he died, however, Elisha's
been kind to him so far. Even as he tells the story, he still can't grown daughter and son-in-law tricked Eliza into thinking she
believe they would do such a thing, but he understands now and her children were going to get papers. Instead, they were
that they are part of the slave trade. People involved in the taken into captivity by Burch. Eliza is a well-dressed, attractive
slave trade will do anything to maximize their profits. While woman who has clearly had all the advantages of living well in
there is a law against kidnapping free people and selling them a rich family. Eliza knows her children will be taken away from
as slaves, it is easy to concoct a story and make authorities her, but she can only hope a wealthy slaveholder will have the
believe it is the African American person who is lying, not the means to purchase her along with her children. Northup
white kidnapper. reports, however, that as of the writing of his story, Eliza has
died a broken woman, mourning the loss of her children.
Once Northup's papers are gone, he has no way to prove he is
free, and it is his word against the words of white men in slave
territory. This chapter reveals to the reader how the evils of
slavery work their way into people's lives. The trade itself is
evil, and where there is money to be made, Northup discovers

The group of slaves in Williams's Slave Pen are moved to a

Analysis steamboat on the Potomac River and then taken in
stagecoaches to a train to transport them to Richmond,
Northup's description of Burch and his associate, Radburn,
Virginia. The transport is done in the middle of the night so no
reveal how the evils of slavery have led to a lack of decency
one will see what is happening to the slaves. In Richmond, the
and respect for humanity in white people. Burch regularly
slaves are kept in another slave pen owned by a man named
denies the identity of the people he enslaves and reduces
Goodin. Burch is furious when Northup mentions he is from
them to the status of human livestock. Violent treatment of
New York. He warns Northup that his life is on the line if he
slaves is just one aspect of the horror of the slave trade. Eliza
says anything about New York again. Northup discovers he is
knows this and is devastated, certain that her children will be
not the only free man who has been kidnapped and sold into
taken from her to be sold to other slaveholders. This act of
slavery. Robert, a man to whom Northup is chained, has
violence on the sanctity of the family seems impossible to
experienced the same thing. All the slaves from the pen are
white people, but Northup assures the reader that the
chained together and marched to the boat, again under cover
separation of family members among slaves occurs regularly.
of darkness, to sail down to Louisiana where the slaves will be
Northup's description of Clemens Ray and Eliza Berry show sold to plantation owners. For some reason, Northup notes,
the reader that the people being enslaved are individuals with Burch takes Clemens Ray back to Washington with him.
the qualities that human beings value most. Clemens Ray is a Northup later learns that Ray managed to escape, stayed with
wise and kind man who holds himself with dignity, and Eliza is a Northup's brother-in-law in New York, and then made it safely
devoted mother to her children, who wants to keep her family to Canada. Northup says the next time the reader sees Burch,
together. The contrast with Burch's outbursts of profanity and he will be in court, standing trial as the criminal he truly is.
vicious attacks on the people he has enslaved shows that
white people are not of superior intelligence and morality. The
subjugation of African Americans is morally reprehensible. It Analysis
denies them their dignity as human beings. Northup's story
shows that Burch, the person white society holds in high Eliza's story is a familiar one among female slaves. She has
regard, is actually the lowest of human beings, and the people become the lover of her master, Elisha Berry, which is not a
he enslaves represent the best of humanity. choice she freely made. No female slave can make that choice
herself because she is not free to refuse her master. Eliza feels
she is lucky to have been treated well by Elisha and given the
Chapter 4 status of a family member, living with him and her children in a
house he built for them. Mrs. Brooks becomes jealous of Eliza
but does not place the blame on her father, whose actions
have led to this arrangement. Mrs. Brooks can't do anything
Summary against Eliza until her father is dead. Once Elisha passes,
Eliza's fate is sealed.
Northup relates how Eliza's story has unfolded. Eliza's status
with her master, Elisha Berry, was elevated because she Northup shows how much harder the life of a female slave is
became the mother of his child, but her master's daughter, Mrs. compared to that of a male slave. Both endure physical labor
Brooks, resented the attention Eliza and her children received. and punishment, but female slaves endure the unwanted
Even though Eliza became Elisha's mistress because she was attention of their masters. Eliza is not the only female slave
his slave, she reports that Elisha treated her and the children who will be treated unfairly and whose spirit will be broken by
with kindness and gave her everything she needed. When the actions of a white man. Northup's memoir relates the
Elisha died, Mrs. Brooks enlisted the help of her husband, experiences of other female slaves with whom he serves and
Jacob Brooks, to trick Eliza and her family into coming to does not hold back in giving the details of their suffering. He is
Washington, D.C., to supposedly get free papers. Eliza and her well aware that for women, slavery contains unique horrors.
children were then sold to James Burch. Eliza is in a state of
mourning for her freedom and her former life and knows that Northup's description of the transport of slaves from place to
the lives of her children are about to take a terrible turn. place is also indicative of the evils of slavery. The fact that

slaves are chained together and led under cover of darkness Northup's identity is further stripped away by the new name
shows that the traders know they are committing a criminal act Theophilus Freeman gives him, "Platt," as if he were a pet or a
against other human beings. However, profit is their sole farm animal who wouldn't know the difference.
motive. Northup describes Burch as a criminal and notes that
this is how he will see Burch at the end of the story—in court. Northup uses personal identity to convince his readers he is
Northup wants his reader to see the contrast between the face telling the truth. He describes each of his captors in great
Burch shows to white society and the reality of his violence physical detail and gives their full names. These verifiable
toward slaves. details about the identity of people who played a part in his
enslavement add to the believability of his story. Again,
Northup knows he has to continually reassure his reader that
Chapter 5 he is not lying because this tale is not only told by an African
American but is far more horrific than many readers can bring
themselves to believe. Slavery breeds a deeper evil in humans
than many white people can grasp because it is hidden by lies
Summary and deception. It is more comfortable for people to think the
story is a lie than it is to face the awful truth of what happened
Northup and the other slaves are transported down the James
to Northup.
River. Along the way, the boat picks up another group of
slaves, including a man named Arthur. Arthur is another free
man who has been kidnapped, just like Northup. The three free
men—Northup, Arthur, and Robert—try to think of a way to
Chapter 6
escape together, but Robert falls ill and dies of smallpox. When
the boat arrives in New Orleans, friends of Arthur's are waiting
for him at the dock to rescue him. Arthur leaves the boat, Summary
ecstatic to once again be free. Northup finds solace in the
sympathy of a white English sailor, John Manning, who agrees Northup describes Freeman's treatment of the slaves he
to mail a letter to Henry Northup, Northup's friend and a intends to sell, ordering them to clean up and giving them new
relative of his father's former master. The letter, Northup finds clothes to wear. He orders them to dance to the tune of
out later, arrives but there is no way for Henry Northup to trace Northup's violin, borrowed from one of his own slaves. The
Northup's location, so no one comes to rescue him. Northup is next day, buyers come to check out the slaves, touching them
transferred to a slave pen belonging to another slave trader, and checking their teeth as if they were animals. Some are
Theophilus Freeman. Freeman gives Northup the slave name even stripped of their clothing to be inspected more closely. A
"Platt." Northup is devastated, but all he can do is pray because plantation owner from Baton Rouge decides to buy Randall,
there is no longer an avenue of escape. Eliza's son. Eliza begs him to buy her and Emily as well, so as
not to separate them. The man cannot afford to buy them all,
so Eliza is forced to part with her son. Freeman berates Eliza
Analysis for crying and tells her he will give her "something to cry about"
if she doesn't calm down. That night, the remaining slaves who
The theme of personal identity plays a large role in this had been on the boat become ill with smallpox, and Northup
chapter. Northup discovers yet again that he is not the only nearly dies of the disease.
free African American man who has been kidnapped and sold
A little over two weeks later, Northup and other slaves are
into slavery. He finds hope in plotting with his fellow free men
back on the market. A man named William Ford purchases
to escape, but the plans fall apart and he is forced to continue
Northup, Eliza, and a man named Harry. Eliza bursts into tears,
as a slave. Arthur gets to keep his identity as a free man
knowing that she will be separated from her remaining child.
because his friends are aware of his plight and rescue him.
Eliza breaks out of the line and grabs Emily, sobbing, but
Northup's friends and family have no idea how to reach him, so
Freeman strikes her hard, causing her to fall down. Ford offers
even though a letter is mailed, nothing comes of it.
to buy Emily to assuage Eliza but Freeman will not sell the child

for any price. He wants to get more out of her when she to see the violence toward male slaves as normal shows how
becomes a little older because she is beautiful. He claims he evil slavery really is. When she is to be parted from Emily,
can get 5,000 dollars for "such an extra, handsome, fancy however, Eliza completely falls apart because she knows that
piece as Emily." Freeman heartlessly refuses to keep mother without her mother around, Emily will likely be subjected to
and child together even though Ford is willing to pay. Northup sexual abuse by her owner. In fact, when Freeman gives the
says the grief he observes in Eliza surpasses that of grieving reason why he wants to keep her, it is clear from this
mothers he has seen kiss their dead children for the last time. description that he wants to sell her on her potential merits as
Everyone but Freeman is deeply affected by the agony with a sex slave. Eliza knows this because she was raped by her
which Eliza is parted from her wailing child. Eliza never sees own master and Emily is her former master's child. She is filled
her children again and mourns the loss for the rest of her life. with dread at this prospect, but there is nothing she can do.
Her freedom and her family are lost in that instant. Freeman is in this business for profit, not to treat the people he
sells humanely. The scene brings to light the depths to which
people will sink when they get involved with the slave trade. By
Analysis describing Emily's cries as her mother is torn away from her,
Northup's story is shown to be evocative, damning, and
Northup's description of Freeman's treatment of the slaves extremely effective. Northup hopes his readers will see what a
reveals how the evil of slavery destroys a person's sense of reprobate Freeman is and how corrupt people become when
morality. Freeman makes the slaves perform like trained dogs, they are engaged in the sale of human beings.
and the buyers who check them out for purchase look them
over as if they are livestock. Northup gives these detailed
descriptions to show exactly how dehumanized the trade is Chapter 7
and how immoral it is to treat humans as property. The sight of
clean, well-dressed African Americans acting "smart" makes
buyers willing to believe the lie that the slaves don't know what
it means to be free. Freeman tries to make it look like they are
Summary
fine with their lot. Northup's description pulls away the curtain
Northup, Harry, and Eliza, who has been renamed "Dradey," are
from the process, showing it to be inhumane. He wants the
taken to William Ford's plantation in the Avoyelles, on the
reader to understand that the slaves are well aware of what
banks of the Red River in the Bayou Bœuf region of Louisiana.
they have lost and they don't go willingly, but rather under pain
Ford's kindness and decency toward his slaves are matched
of death.
by that of his wife, Mistress Ford. Ford, who will later become a
Northup's description of the separation of Eliza and her preacher, gives Bible talks to his slaves every Sunday and
children, especially that of Emily, strikes horror into everyone's encourages them to behave in a moral fashion. Northup begins
heart around her. Freeman strikes Eliza when she refuses to work at the lumber mills and designs a system to move the
separate from Emily. Northup's description of Ford, on the lumber via a waterway rather than over land, saving Ford time
other hand, reveals that he is cognizant of moral behavior and money. Ford is grateful, and Northup gains a reputation as
when he sees it, even in a slave owner. Ford's offer to buy an intelligent slave. Then, Northup is sent to work alongside the
Emily even though he doesn't need a young slave shows he carpenter John Tibeats, a cruel and jealous man with a short
has a kind heart and a sense of morality. This difference is temper who develops an instant hatred for Northup.
noted in stark contrast to Freeman's decision to keep Emily

and not sell her at any price. One action acknowledges the
importance of family, while the other doesn't acknowledge any
Analysis
human need at all.
Northup notes that when a slave owner treats his slaves well
When Eliza is separated from her son, Randall, she cries, but and is kind to them, he gets far more work out of them than an
she tells Randall she will not forget him and is able to say owner who relies on the whip. Ford's kindness inspires Northup
goodbye without falling apart. This is because she knows to invent a more efficient way of moving lumber. The best a
Randall will be treated as all male slaves are treated. Her ability slave can hope for is his master's approval, given that the

rights and enjoyment of liberty have been taken away. Ford wrong thing when Northup does what he is told to do. It is clear
considers it his job to teach the slaves his version of morality, from Tibeats's behavior that he doesn't like the fact that Ford
which is a considerable move toward treating slaves as if they likes Northup and is determined to break Northup's spirit.
are the equal of white people. Northup goes from being treated Tibeats is the kind of person who believes that an African
like an animal on the market to being treated with a level of American person is meant to be broken in, like a horse, and he
decency. is also the kind of person who abuses his animals. Chapin,
however, shows himself to be a decent human being,
Northup's tone changes when he speaks of John Tibeats, and advocating for Northup in the nail mix-up. Then, when Chapin
the reader knows things are about to go badly for Northup. interrupts the lynching, he gives Tibeats and his men a
Northup's good reputation has made Tibeats jealous. Since dressing down, noting that no one has the right to take
Tibeats sees African Americans as no better than dogs, the Northup's life for any reason. A white overseer's admission of
working relationship with Northup promises to be painful. The the humanity of a slave and the assertion that the life of an
evil of slavery pervades everything, making Tibeats a bitter and African American person is equal to that of a white person is
nasty person who can't see the humanity in anyone. unusual.
Northup, up to this point, has been too afraid to lash out

Chapter 8 physically at any of his tormentors, but Tibeats is different.
Northup is working alongside Tibeats, and even though Tibeats
owns him, he is equally qualified to do the job they are
Summary performing for Ford. Northup loses his temper so completely

that he can't help himself and turns the tables on Tibeats.
Something in Northup makes him realize that this time, his life
William Ford may be a kind person, but he is not good with
is at risk. He knows this will come back to haunt him, and he is
money. His finances are in bad shape, and he is forced to sell
correct. Tibeats is out to get Northup and tries to kill him.
Northup to Tibeats to repay a debt. Northup and Tibeats go to
work on another of Ford's plantations in Bayou Bœuf. Tibeats
proves to be a terrible master, seeing every move Northup
makes as a mistake or an intentional error. Northup can't do Chapter 9
anything to satisfy Tibeats. Tibeats is constantly angry and
cruel, making up offenses so he can treat Northup badly. When
Northup uses nails from Chapin, the overseer, that Tibeats Summary
asked him to get, Tibeats accuses him of getting the wrong
nails and tries to whip him. Northup, angry at the unfairness of Northup spends the day still tied to the tree, in pain, hungry,
the accusation and determined not to get whipped for it, and thirsty. Rachel, a house slave, comes by with water to
overpowers Tibeats and whips him instead. Chapin comes by, relieve him and whispers her sympathies. Northup sees Chapin
asks what happened, and confirms to Tibeats that Northup pacing back and forth in front of the door, looking down the
took the correct nails. Tibeats vows revenge and comes back road. Northup is not sure why Chapin leaves him tied up in the
with two associates to try to lynch Northup. They tie Northup hot sun all day. Chapin says nothing, but it is clear he fears
to a tree and place a noose around his neck. Chapin sees what Tibeats will come back with more people to finish the job.
is happening and shows up with a gun, threatening to shoot Northup notes that at this point, he never once thought being a
Tibeats and his men if they don't leave. Chapin sends Lawson, slave in the South was preferable to being a free African
his driver, to ride to Ford's and tell him what has happened. American man in the North. Slavery has not kept him safe, and
nothing can sway his opinion. People who believe this lie, he
says, have never "drunk ... from the bitter cup of slavery" the
Analysis way he has. When Ford arrives, he cuts Northup free. Chapin
has him come inside the house to recover in safety. A few days
Tibeats waits to go off on Northup at the slightest provocation. later, Tibeats rents out Northup to Ford's brother-in-law, Peter
He creates problems for Northup and accuses him of doing the Tanner. Tanner is a tough man but does not attempt to kill

Northup.
Summary
Northup works for Tanner for a month, and because he is at
Analysis Tanner's, Tibeats can't harm him. However, when Northup has
to go back to working with Tibeats, the trouble starts again.
Northup says he has never been completely sure why Chapin
This time, Tibeats comes for Northup with an ax, planning to
left him tied to the tree the entire day, but he also describes
bury it in Northup's skull. Northup is able to overpower Tibeats
Chapin's behavior throughout the day. Chapin is restlessly
again and manages to put Tibeats in a stranglehold. Northup
pacing, looking down the road, but within sight of Northup. It is
knows he can easily kill Tibeats, but he also knows what will
possible that Chapin thinks he can't interfere legally with
happen to him if he does. Northup releases Tibeats and runs
another man's property, but it is also possible that Chapin
as fast as he can into the swamps that separate him from
wants Ford to see just how bad the situation is and pull back
Ford's plantation. Tibeats sets his dogs on Northup ,and
the deal with Tibeats. When a white man is accused of
Northup knows if the dogs catch him, he is as good as dead.
committing a crime against an African American man who is
Northup relates stories of other runaways who have been
the property of another, there must be other white witnesses.
mauled, some to their death, by the slave catcher's dogs, who
The only way to let Ford know the extent of what Tibeats has
are bred to kill what they catch. Northup pushes through the
done is for him to see it himself. It is not the most humane way
Great Pacoudrie Swamp, losing the dogs and ensuring they
of dealing with the situation, but Northup knows Chapin is
lose his scent. He goes in up to his neck and has to feel his
working within the boundaries of an evil system that cannot
way through the swamp in the dark. Along the way, he knows
help but be inhumane.
to pass by alligators on a crooked path because they can't
Northup also addresses an argument that was often made pivot quickly. However, the water moccasins, a deadly species
during his time about the safety of slavery versus the risk to of snake, are a different story. They are everywhere, and their
African Americans when they are free. Slavery advocates use poison is deadly to humans. Northup has to be careful not to
this gesture of false caring to add to their argument in favor of put a hand down on one and scare it into biting him. He finally
slavery. They say a slave in the South is safer with his master emerges from the swamp and comes across men in a clearing
since the master provides food, clothing, shelter, and on a small plantation. He approaches one of the men with a
whippings. A free African American would be left alone in the fierce expression and demands "in no gentle tone" directions
world, at risk of being harmed. Why whippings would ever be to Ford's place. Northup shows up at Ford's, unrecognizably
part of being safe is a mystery to Northup, but he continues, muddy and exhausted, missing a shoe, and Ford takes him in.
noting to the reader that as he suffers in the blazing sun, Ford and his wife get the cook to feed Northup, and everyone
starving, thirsty, in pain, and tied to a tree, not once has he speaks kindly and reassuringly to him. Northup goes to the
thought he was safer being a slave than being a free African cabin to sleep and thinks of his children.
American man. This is said with a bit of wry humor now that it
is a memory for Northup, but it is true. There is no way anyone
could think, given this result, that slavery was safer for Northup Analysis
than freedom. Slavery is by its nature not only unsafe for the
enslaved but lethal to their bodies, their spirits, and their human The slave catcher's dogs are one of the most terrifying
rights. aspects of Northup's attempt to flee from Tibeats and his men.
He relates a time when a young slave was caught by the dogs.
Before the owners could call the dogs off, the boy was mauled
Chapter 10 to death. The sound of the dogs is what Northup uses to tell if
he has reached relative safety or not. The other sounds of the
swamp give the reader a vivid picture of the Great Pacoudrie
Swamp and its dangers. The brush in the swamp is a tangle of
brambles and home to several forms of deadly reptiles. When
Northup emerges from the swamp, he is lucky to have come
that far, but even then, the danger isn't over. His situation is

never truly safe. be taken to Edwin Epps's plantation, for he has been sold.
Northup's confrontation with the men at the small plantation

shows how he uses his appearance to intimidate them into Analysis
giving him directions without asking for papers. Northup knows
he is not free to be anywhere without a pass. The need for a Northup tries to express how kind the Fords are to him, but in
pass could keep him from running to safety even if his life were the end, there is no real solace for him. Ford is obligated to
on the line, but he has come so far that he just pushes through return him to Tibeats. Ford tries to mitigate this situation by
as if he will get what he asks for. Northup is beginning to lecturing Tibeats, but he knows Tibeats will not change.
realize his power after surviving this terrible journey.
Northup continues to observe how strong and capable women
Northup describes his reception at Ford's like a balm to the are by describing how the women on Eldret's plantation can
"wounded spirit of the slave," with words providing even "plough, drag, drive team, clear wild lands, work on the
greater comfort than the food and shelter the Fords grant him highway." He notes that there are plantations where the only
at the end of his terrible journey. But Northup also brings up his labor is female, and he lets the reader know that this
children again, the thought of whom allows him to sleep at arrangement works well. Northup's description of women
night, pretending they are there. The mention of Northup's frequently relies on their strengths rather than on their more
thoughts of his children is the final plea to the reader, after delicate, stereotypically feminine traits. He notices their level of
witnessing with Northup the terror of a night in a deadly education, their manner in a discussion, and their intelligence,
swamp. This is the result of slavery, Northup demonstrates, as well as their physical strength.
and the loss of his family never goes away no matter how well
someone treats him. Northup's reunion with Eliza is a sad one. She is traded to an
owner who beats her until she can't get up and then leaves her
there to die. This bit of information allows the reader to infer
Chapter 11 that even though Ford is a kind man, if a slave can't do the
required work, he or she is sent to another plantation. Ford is
the one who trades Eliza and presumably knows the new
master is cruel. Slavery leaves no room for true kindness
Summary because when people profess to own other people, it brings
out the worst in them.
Northup spends the next four days recuperating. He can never
sit still, even though he has been told to rest. He works in
Mistress Ford's garden until her husband says he must return
to Tibeats. Ford takes Northup back to Bayou Bœuf and Chapter 12
lectures Tibeats on how to treat a slave with dignity. The only
benefit of this lecture is that Tibeats does not punish Northup
for running away. Instead, he hires him out to Eldret, another Summary
plantation owner. The work entails clearing and processing
trees. Northup works with a team of four African American Edwin Epps, Northup reports, is a horrible man. He is tall,
women who are, in Northup's estimation, "equal to any man." "portly," uneducated, bad-mannered, and erratic and cruel
He is impressed by the level of work each of the women can when he is drunk, which is fairly often. When Epps goes on
do. When Northup has worked for five weeks, he earns a pass drinking binges, he uses the whip on his slaves to get them to
to visit his friends at Ford's house. When he visits, he sees dance for him all night, or just to hear them cry out when he
Eliza, who has become "a thin shadow of her former self," her whips them. Epps enjoys hurting his slaves when he's drunk.
face "ghastly haggard." He later hears that Eliza was traded to When he isn't drunk, he is still there with the whip, should
a cruel master who allowed her to die, unable to move, alone anyone make a wrong move or rest even for a minute.
on her cabin floor. When Northup returns to his job with Eldret,
Northup describes in great detail how cotton is planted and
he meets Tibeats along the way. Northup is told to prepare to
farmed. He then discusses the working and living conditions of

the slaves on Epps's plantation. When cotton pickers are new amount of time spent in the field with no rest and no water is
in the field, Northup says, they are first "whipped up smartly" also inhumane. In addition, the slave shelter, where the slaves
and then put in the field to see how much cotton they can pick go to sleep after the weigh-in, is barbaric. The animals on the
in a day. This amount is what they are expected to pick from plantation have it better than the slaves. The food they are
then on, but no less than 200 pounds. Patsey, a young female given is also nearly inedible, and they are not allowed to eat
field hand, can pick upwards of 500 pounds a day, but she is most of the food they grow. The entire system is based on
the exception. A picker who picks less than the expected stripping slaves of their status as human beings, which is
amount gets whipped. If the picker exceeds the expected beyond wrong—it is pure evil.
amount, that is their new expected amount. Field hands have
to be in the fields as the light comes up and can stop only
when they can no longer see in the dark. If there is a full moon, Chapter 13
this can be until midnight. They get 15 minutes a day to eat
their food. Then, they have their daily amount of cotton
weighed, followed by a whipping. Only then can they go home
Summary
to eat again and sleep. The slaves live in fear of oversleeping,
and they also live in fear of going to the cotton gin at night to
The first thing Northup does when he comes to work for Edwin
weigh their haul.
Epps is make an ax handle in the style he is used to using in
the North. The handle is curved, for the comfort of the user,
The master and his family enjoy all types of meat, baked
and is easier to hold. Epps has seen only straight ax handles
goods, and fresh fruits and vegetables grown on the plantation
and keeps the curved one to show visitors. Unfortunately, the
specifically for them. The slaves' food is a small amount of cold
good feelings do not last because Northup becomes so ill that
bacon, which is often infested with worms, and dried corn still
he can't work. Epps does not call a doctor until he is told by the
on the cob. They grind the corn and mix it with water, and it is
other slaves that Northup is near death. Because Epps doesn't
then baked into a cake. Their cabins have dirt floors and no
want to lose his investment, he pays for a doctor. Northup
windows. Their beds are planks on the floor, and their pillows
recovers and soon proves to be a slow cotton picker, so he is
are made of sticks.
told to cut and load wood and do other jobs around the
plantation.
Analysis Epps whips his slaves every single day, and Northup says not a
day passes when the "shrieking of the slaves" can't be heard.
Northup gives an extremely detailed description of Edwin
Epps also whips the slaves when he comes home drunk at
Epps, which serves as part of his testimony to prove he served
night, either just for pleasure or to make them dance until he
as one of Epps's slaves. There is no other way he could have
passes out. This can go on all night, and slaves are still
known what Epps looked like or how he sounded. In addition,
expected to be in the fields before dawn. Northup has to play
this description shows the reader what a person is like when
the violin on these occasions.
they view other people as animals. It is with Epps that Northup
spends the final 10 years of his enslavement. Northup introduces the reader to the other slaves who work
with him. Abram is a 60-year-old man, who is beginning to lose
Northup's description of the process of planting and harvesting
his memory and strength and gets whipped for it. He is
cotton seems like a digression, but it serves two purposes.
referred to as "Uncle Abram." Wiley is 48, married to Phebe,
First, it makes Northup's story believable because the only way
who is often called "Aunt Phebe," and they have three children,
Northup could know so much about a cotton plantation is if he
Bob, Henry, and Edward. The first two children are from
had worked on one. Second, Northup's description is not just
Phebe's first marriage. Then there is 23-year-old Patsey, who
of the planting and harvesting process. He provides the reader
was a joyful girl when she arrived at Epps's plantation, but her
with a clear idea of how inhumane the working conditions for
spirit has been completely broken by Epps and his wife,
slaves are in the cotton fields. The details about how much
Mistress Epps. Epps is attracted to Patsey and has raped her
cotton to pick make it clear that almost no slave can escape
several times. Mistress Epps hates Patsey because she is
the weigh-in at the end of the day without being whipped. The

jealous and regularly attacks her with boards and broken

bottles. She also has Epps whip Patsey for imagined Chapter 14
infractions. Mistress Epps even goes so far as to try to bribe
Northup to kill Patsey when Epps refuses to sell her because
she is his fastest cotton picker. Summary
Northup is hired out to another plantation owner to harvest
Analysis sugar cane, which he finds much easier than picking cotton. He
also gets paid to play his violin on special occasions. Slaves
Northup's description of Epps reveals the worst of the working in the cotton fields don't get paid, but slaves working
inhumane owners he has witnessed or worked for. He begins on sugar plantations have to work every day, including Sunday,
his relationship with Epps as he did with William Ford, creating so they get paid for working on the Sabbath. Northup pulls
something unusual and useful to please his owner, but this together a fair bit of money and is able to get utensils he can
does nothing to save him from the cruel treatment Epps inflicts use to cook, which are not given to slaves. While he is working
on all his slaves. Epps is a sadistic master, who enjoys hearing on the cane plantation, he is near a shipping dock regularly and
his slaves cry out in pain. Epps procures medical help for asks a captain to help him reach the North, but the captain
Northup only when he thinks he's going to lose money by feels it's too risky and refuses. When Northup returns to Epps's
letting Northup die. plantation after the sugar season is over, he discovers that the
situation with Patsey has become far worse. Epps flogs Patsey
The propensity to whip slaves for pleasure happens when when his wife wants him to, which is frequently because Epps
Epps is drunk, but some nights he comes home and whips can't sell Patsey and get a slave who does the same amount of
them to make them dance simply for his own entertainment. work for that money. Northup wishes he could help Patsey but
The next day is horrific for the slaves, who have had no rest at can't find a way to do so. He does manage to create a fish trap
all but are still expected to work until dark. Then they receive so he and his fellow slaves can eat better. During this time,
another whipping. Northup wants readers to know just how Northup reports that one of Epps's neighbors, Marshall, had
terrible Epps is to his slaves and how spirit-breaking the last 10 killed another white man with whom he had an argument. But
years have been for him. He includes Mistress Epps because nothing happened to him, and people spoke of him as if he
there are times when she laughs at the things her husband were an important person. Northup says that in a society that
does. Both Epps and his wife are evil and cruel. uses slavery to function, people lose touch with their humanity.
Northup is horrified by the gradual destruction of Patsey's

spirit. When he describes her, he uses Epps's view of her as an
"animal," which is how Epps treats her, except for when he
Analysis
wants to have sex with her. If she refuses, he beats her.
Northup is slowly finding ways to get some reward form
Northup's description of Mistress Epps's behavior toward
working for Epps, and he is able to earn money, which is
Patsey is equally horrific. There is no way Patsey can avoid
unusual for slaves. The entire focus of the Sunday money for
being physically abused on a regular basis. Eventually, this
slaves, though, is to make their meals easier to create. Any
takes a toll on her good-natured personality and strips her of
utensils or cooking implements have to be purchased with
any joy she may take from life. Northup saves the worst for last
Sunday money. Northup also finds a way to get food more
in his description of Epps's cruelty, noting that Patsey is the
easily because hunting after one has been working into the
victim of Epps's lust and Mistress Epps's hatred. Northup has a
night is too exhausting. This aspect of his life becomes better,
deep understanding at this point of the horrors to which female
but he is still under Epps's lash every day, so true happiness is
slaves are subjected. He knows he and the other male slaves
not possible. His sense of himself is stronger, though, because
have it bad, but is continually astonished at how much worse
he has a few small ways to improve his life.
the lives of female slaves can be at the hands of an evil master
like Epps. Northup is horrified at Patsey's deteriorating situation. Northup
wants the reader to know how hopeless the situation is for
female slaves in this position. Slavery breeds greed and

inhumanity, even in people like Mistress Epps, whom Northup

says is well educated and kind to everyone but turns into a
Analysis
raving monster when it comes to Patsey. Mistress Epps is not
Northup describes the Christmas festivities to show readers
willing to place blame where blame is due.
that when not performing their duties as slaves, African
Northup reports the murder by a neighbor as an example of Americans living on the plantations become different people.
how morally corrupt people in the South have become because They are full of joy and laughter, relishing their freedom. They
of slavery. Inhumane treatment of slaves breeds a lack of can see themselves as beautiful, as musical, as talented, and
respect for life in general, and in a slave society, a murderer can spend time enjoying each other's company. Slavery, the
can be seen as a hero. The whole of morality is turned upside rest of the year, turns them into sad, fearful, exhausted
down. People who witness violence toward slaves every day, workers who are treated like animals, not human beings.
and those who inflict it, begin to believe that this is a normal Northup makes sure to mention that Epps gives his workers
way to act with everyone. Northup wants the reader to see only three days a year to experience this kind of freedom.
how insidious the evil of slavery is. He also uses this tale to Other plantation owners give their slaves more days, but the
reiterate to readers that slaves are entirely aware of what they point is that these are a few days per year and the vast
lose by being slaves. They know what liberty is and they crave majority of a slave's life is filled with toil and sorrow.
it. Even a slave with a kind master is still enslaved and would
Northup tells the reader he is seen as the best musician in the
rather be free.
area, although there are many talented musicians on the
plantations. He says this "at the expense of appearing
egotistical," but this is the one time in Northup's life as a slave
Chapter 15 where he gets to feel good about his accomplishments. Even
when he is good at something, he is still told to keep his head
down when addressing white people and is still treated like an
Summary animal. Certainly being a good worker in the cane fields gains a
slave compliments, but it also gains Northup the responsibility
Northup continues working at cane plantations because he is of whipping his fellow slaves to get them to work faster. Any
terrible at picking cotton. He is given charge of gangs of time something good happens, it is at the expense of a greater
workers and is also given the whip, which he must use or he good and perpetuates evil. With music, Northup can have a
will be whipped himself. Northup gives readers a description of reason to wake up every day. It is the one thing that saves him
all the steps that go into harvesting cane to produce sugar, as from total despair in those 10 years on Epps's plantation.
well as planting new cane. He then says that there are only
three days out of the year that Epps's slaves get to take time
off, and this is around the Christmas holidays. There are feasts Chapter 16
at each of the plantations, to which slaves from the other
plantations are invited. There is also music and dancing, and
Northup notes that many of the slaves are talented musicians.
He doesn't want to sound "egotistical," but his violin-playing
Summary
services are in high demand at these occasions and at other
Northup is made a slave driver—one who supervises slaves—in
parties where he makes money and gets to keep a few pennies
the fields at Epps's cotton plantation. He has to do the
of it for himself, giving the rest to Epps. Flirtations and
whipping for the white overseer, and when Epps is watching,
marriages are entered into during this time, but slaves whose
he can't be gentle about it. When Epps is far away though and
spouses are on other plantations are given only occasional
can't really see the whip, Northup develops a technique of
visiting rights. As Uncle Abram notes, eventually, it isn't worth it
whipping that looks like it is strong from afar, but barely
to travel.
touches the slave. Northup also tries to intervene when Epps's
wife wants Patsey flogged. But because Epps is drunk, he tries
to kill Northup with a knife. Epps thinks this is fun, but Northup
knows that if he doesn't dodge the knife, he will die. Mistress

Epps finally gets Epps to stop the game. broken.
There is a new worker in the fields, a white man named

Armsby. Armsby is a poor white man Epps hires to pick cotton.
Northup thinks maybe Armsby will sympathize with him and
Chapter 17
help him mail a letter. Northup has managed to make ink and
find paper, and Armsby agrees to mail the letter if Northup
pays him. Epps finds out and accuses Northup of trying to
Summary
write a letter and get off the plantation, which shows Northup
Northup tells the story of Wiley, a fellow slave who tries to
that Armsby has betrayed him. Northup convinces Epps that
escape the Epps plantation. On one occasion, Wiley simply
Armsby is crazy and gets out of the predicament. However, his
tries to make it back to Epps's plantation after visiting another
spirit is at an all-time low because he thinks there is now no
plantation late at night. He is caught by white patrollers who
chance of escape or rescue.
beat him and then take him to Epps, who believes he was
trying to escape and beats him again. Wiley then decides to
Analysis run away and manages to escape without getting caught.

Three weeks later, he returns with a note from Mistress Epp's
Northup's description of his job as a slave driver for the uncle, saying he should not be punished for his supposed
remaining eight years he is on Epps's plantation reveals that crime. But Epps beats Wiley with even greater fury than he did
even he has been broken by the evil of slavery. He doesn't the first time. Northup gives the reader details of escapes gone
want to be the person to whip his fellow slaves but is too wrong, especially that of Lew Cheney, a slave who turned on
frightened to refuse. He says he lacks "the Christian fortitude the slaves he incited to escape and in doing so committed
of a certain well-known Uncle Tom," referring to the character them to death by hanging. Cheney himself was lauded by his
in American author Harriet Beecher Stowe's (1811–1896) novel white owners for his deeds. It is safe to say that no African
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), who refuses to punish fellow slaves. American has a kind word for Lew Cheney.
Northup's best effort not to become complicit in the evils of

slavery is to make the punishment less painful for the slaves.
When he is finally released and writes this memoir, Northup
Analysis
dedicates the book to Stowe.
Northup tells readers about the horrors of being caught trying
Armsby is not an ally, a painful discovery Northup makes when to escap,e but he notes that slaves keep trying to do it. These
he trusts Armsby to mail a letter. Northup discovers that just efforts to reach freedom happen frequently despite the
because a white man is in the same position as a slave does knowledge that a failed attempt may bring severe pain or
not mean he empathizes with the slave's plight. Armsby gets to death. Northup himself despairs of ever being able to escape,
go home after a day's work. The slaves have no choice but to but he still thinks about it every day and tries to come up with
remain on the plantation. Armsby views himself as superior to ways to get free.
the slaves he works with because he isn't a slave and he is
These continual efforts to break out of slavery and the horrific
white. He dupes Northup out of his money and gets him in
treatment inflicted on slaves by their white captors reveal a
trouble with Epps.
truth that Northup has been insisting on throughout the
Epps has gone completely over the edge with Northup, chasing memoir. Enslavement is not a state that African Americans
him with a knife to kill him, but acting like it's a game. The only want to be in. No one wants to be enslaved by another human
reason Epps fails is because his wife intervenes. Epps is so being. Northup believes justice will eventually prevail because it
morally bankrupt that killing someone is an act he considers to is a higher law, and someday white slaveholders will reap what
be sport, not crime. Between Epps's increasing sadism, they sow. He believes that eventually slavery will end, and
Armsby's betrayal, and his own inability to avoid getting sucked when it does, white owners will be called on to pay for their
into the role of abuser himself, Northup is in despair of ever crimes.
escaping or being rescued. He is close to having his spirit

In detailing Epps's stabbing of Uncle Abram, Northup shows

Chapter 18 just how inhuman Epps has become over the years. Epps
treats Abram as if he were a disobedient mule rather than a
human being, and even a mule would not be stabbed for
Summary making a mistake. Human life has no value in Epps's mind
because Epps does not believe that African Americans are
There are more horrific experiences in store for Northup as the human. Epps even goes so far as to project his own disgusting
years pass. When a tanner comes to visit Epps to bargain for sexual predation on Patsey, stripping away her dignity and her
Northup, Aunt Phebe hears about it and tells Northup. Northup spirit by flogging her until she is covered in blood. He tries to
says he would like to change to tanning, and Mistress Epps enlist Northup in this evil act and forces him to use the whip on
overhears the conversation. Epps finds Northup and "tans" him Patsey. Northup can't keep up the complicity and has to stop.
with the whip, furious that Northup would want to be a slave Epps spreads his evil via his son, too, because the son imitates
anywhere else but on his plantation. Epps also stabs Uncle what the father does. Just as Northup noted in an earlier
Abram when Abram becomes confused and forgets chapter, thinking that William Ford's father must have taught
something. Northup finds Abram on the floor of his cabin, him by being a good example, Epps is teaching his child to be
bleeding. just as inhumane as he is.
Mistress Epps won't give Patsey any soap to wash with, but
she gives it to the other slaves. Patsey walks next door to the
plantation of a man named Shaw. Patsey is friendly with
Chapter 19
Shaw's African American wife, Harriet, and asks her for some
soap. Even though he knows Patsey and Harriet are friends,
Epps suspects that Patsey is not visiting Harriet. Epps accuses Summary
Patsey of sleeping with Shaw, a man notorious for his
escapades. Patsey shows Epps the soap and explains, but In the summer of 1852 hope comes to the Epps plantation in
Epps makes her strip and stakes her to the ground. Epps the form of a Canadian carpenter named Bass. Northup, told to
forces Northup to whip Patsey but Northup can go only so far work with Bass to build a house, discovers that Bass is an
before he tells Epps he can't keep whipping her. Epps takes abolitionist. Northup overhears conversations between Bass
the whip and beats Patsey as hard as he can until he is too and Epps about slavery. Epps argues for its benefits and Bass
tired to keep it up. Patsey is a completely broken person after argues that it is evil. Northup realizes Bass might be
this beating. Northup feels terrible about his part in the torture, sympathetic to his plight and decides to risk asking him to
and to illustrate how insidious the evil of Epps's actions are, he send letters to a lawyer named Henry Northup and another
tells of Young Master Epps, Epps's young son, riding into the friend back in New York. Bass agrees to send the letters. Bass
fields to whip the slaves and yell at them while his father and the other carpenters are finished with the house by the
laughs. end of the summer, and yet Northup still has not received a
reply from Saratoga Springs. Bass tells Northup not to give up
hope, and he promises to come back to the Epps plantation at
Analysis Christmas. He tells Northup that if there is no reply by then, he
will help Northup escape himself. It is the least he can do to
Northup tells these stories to reveal how insidious the evil of back up his beliefs that slavery is evil.
slavery is and how it corrupts everything and everyone. It is
preposterous for a master to expect his slave to want to
remain on the plantation when he whips his slave incessantly. Analysis
And yet, Epps expects exactly that kind of loyalty. According
to Northup, Epps is not the only master who is enraged by The trustworthy Bass comes into Northup's life like the answer
what he considers disloyalty. The denial that must be in place to a prayer. He is from Canada, where so many African
to think this way is deep, entrenched in the minds of white Americans have fled to safety, and he is an abolitionist,
slaveholders. determined to end slavery. It is incredible that such a man is

also friends with Epps and is able to have an argument with

him about slavery without angering him. This gives Northup
Analysis
hope that abolitionists can indeed effect change and turn the
This chapter is the climax to the memoir, the moment in which
system around.
Northup realizes he is about to be rescued. The way in which
Bass tells Epps that the system of slavery "is as absurd as it is Northup tells the story is masterful, holding back details until
cruel." He believes there is no difference "in the color of the the very last few paragraphs of the chapter. The emotional
soul" and informs Epps, "It would be hard ... to lose your impact on the reader is intended to provide the same uplift and
property ... but it wouldn't be half as hard as it would be to lose relief that Northup himself felt after believing all hope had
your liberty." Bass tries to put Epps in his slaves' shoes to show vanished. He begins the day still hurting from the beating he
Epps how unjust it is for one person to own another. received over the weekend and is working in bitter cold with no
warm clothing to protect him. This scene sets up just another
Northup is able to reveal the details of his story to Bass sad and exhausting day for Northup. The vision of the two men
because of the arguments he overhears. His revelation to Bass coming across the field marks a glorious end to a horrific 12
happens bit by bit, and he tells Bass that, in fact, he has visited years.
Canada. Bass is surprised and intrigued. Northup tells Bass he
is afraid to tell him the story, but Bass encourages him. In Bass, Northup tells the reader that a series of events occurred in
Northup finds a white man who understands that the system of New York and then in New Orleans that allowed him to be
slavery and the hatred of African American people perpetuated rescued. He realizes that Bass's friendship and devotion to his
by white people are both wrong and evil. Northup also finds, for freedom have borne fruit. His friends in New York have also
the first time, someone he can trust with his life. done an immense amount of work to make sure it is possible to
take him out of Louisiana safely.
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Summary
Summary
It is now December 1852, and Bass has kept his promise to
return to the plantation to see Northup. There has still been no As promised, Northup tells the story of how Bass's letters
reply to either letter. Bass tells Northup not to lose heart and reached Saratoga Springs.
promises to go to Saratoga Springs himself to find Northup's
Northup's wife, Anne, receives the letters sent by Bass. She
family and friends. Bass has decided he is going to make sure
goes to Henry Northup, the lawyer whose relatives had owned
that Northup is freed and returned to his life in the North.
Northup's father long ago. Henry Northup has to prepare a
Northup goes through the holiday celebrations playing his
case with details of Northup's family and his status as a free
violin, as usual, but when he returns to work in the fields, Epps
man in order to get Governor Washington Hunt of New York to
is back to his usual vicious self. Northup gets whipped for
grant him permission to retrieve Northup in Louisiana.
oversleeping one day and has to spend the next day
Permission must also be granted by government officials in
convalescing. He is despondent because no one has replied to
Louisiana in order for the rescue to happen. Just when Henry
the letters. The next day, January 3, 1853, a frigid morning,
Northup thinks he won't be able to locate Northup because no
Northup writes that Epps has forgotten his whip and has to go
one knows his name, his associate, lawyer John P. Waddill, has
back and get it to "make us all hotter than that fiery realm in
a conversation with him about New York politics and mentions
which I am sometimes compelled to believe he will himself
that Bass is a member of the abolitionist party. Suddenly,
eventually reside." At that moment, Northup looks up and sees
Waddill realizes that Bass was in the area at the time the
two men crossing the cotton fields. Northup promises to tell
letters were dated. They find Bass, who tells them where the
the reader exactly how this rescue came to be, behind the
Epps plantation is and admits to sending the letters for
scenes, as he waited in agony at the Epps plantation.
Northup. Henry Northup gets the local sheriff to come with him

Twelve Years a Slave Study Guide Quotes 29
to get Northup because he knows Epps will not give him up

willingly. When Henry Northup reaches the Epps plantation,
Summary
Northup has to answer a battery of questions in order to prove
Northup travels to New Orleans with Henry to obtain
that he is indeed Solomon Northup. He has to convince the
certification from the state of Louisiana to prove he is a free
sheriff he is not just a runaway slave. On January 4, 1853,
African American. Then they go to Washington, D.C., in order
Henry Northup and Solomon Northup board a steamboat and
to try to prosecute James Burch for kidnapping and
head North to freedom.
enslavement. The trial is a farce. Burch can't deny that he took
Northup, but since Northup is not able to testify because he is
African American, and Burch can testify for himself, Burch tells
Analysis the judge that Northup willingly accompanied him to the South.
Based on his testimony and false witnesses, Burch is acquitted
This tale of chance conversations and meetings is wrought
and set free. Northup and Henry Northup head for Saratoga
with tension. Northup notes that at any given point in the
Springs, where Northup is reunited with his wife and daughters.
process, everything could have gone wrong. No one on the
He also discovers that his daughter Margaret has named her
plantations where he has worked knows his real name, so
son after him, Solomon Northup Staunton, and that his son
asking for Solomon Northup would not work. It is only the
Alonzo has been trying to earn money to set him free. Northup
conversation that leads to talking about Bass and Waddill's
is grateful that he is allowed to return to his life.
stroke of brilliance in connecting Bass to the letters that save
the whole operation.
The hoops that Henry Northup has to jump through to retrieve Analysis
Northup are numerous and time-consuming. So many officials
have to give permission, sign off on the process, and agree The fact that Northup's family clung to the hope he would one
that Northup is a free man in order for him to be released from day be set free is remarkable. It reveals persistence and
slavery. The sheriff has to be there in order for Henry Northup optimism in the face of terrible events and a lack of
to be able to take Northup away because Epps, predictably, information. Northup is humbled by having a grandson named
thinks he is being ripped off. All he can think about is the loss after him and by his son's efforts to make money to free him.
of his investment. Northup's frustration at not seeing justice served is mitigated
somewhat by his return to his regular life.
Northup includes all the ins and outs of the law against
kidnapping free African American men in New York as well as Northup's inability to testify for himself is an extension of the
the process everyone goes through to come to Louisiana with evil of slavery and the notion that African American people are
legal backup. Northup gives all these details because he still inferior to white people. Northup makes sure that the reader
needs the reader to believe his story, not the lie that he is a knows why justice cannot be served. He tells his tale so the
runaway slave from Georgia. It is terrible that he must provide evils of slavery can be overcome by the power of the
all this background information, state laws, and list of the abolitionist movement. He does not tell the reader what to
government officials who all gave permission and agreed he think but hopes his life story will help readers "form their own
was free. But this is how slavery has infiltrated the opinions of the 'peculiar institution.'" The moral weight of his
consciousness of white Americans. Northup is free, but he still story speaks for itself.
has to prove it to the readers of his day.
g Quotes
Chapter 22
"Never once ... did I fail to counsel
anyone who came to me, to ...
strike for freedom."

— Solomon Northup, Chapter 1 However, this quote represents a turning point in his
consciousness. He now knows he is a slave separated from his
family, and there is nothing he can do to change that. All he can
This quote shows that Northup is not only a kind and brave
do is try to patch his spirit back together through prayer.
person but also one who is well aware of the fruits of his
liberty, knows that even slaves who are treated well are still
enslaved, and wants to help them.
"She was talking of them—often to
them, as if they were actually
"A human face was fearful to me,
present."
especially a white one."
— Solomon Northup, Chapter 6
This quote gives the reader an idea of the depth to which Eliza
This quote expresses the psychological effect on Northup of Berry sinks when her children are taken from her as well as the
having been beaten almost to death for insisting he was free. mental game she must play to stay alive. The only way she can
Northup is chained up in the slave pen and can't imagine that keep herself going is to act as if they are still with her. The
any human approaching him is doing so for any reason other description of Eliza's fate shows the reader the cruelty of the
than to hurt him. slavery system as it separates families to maximize profit.
"My life would not have weighed a "He, however, lost nothing by his
feather, in any emergency kindness."
requiring such a sacrifice."

Fellow plantation owners think William Ford's kindness toward
his slaves shows he's not a good slaveholder, but Ford actually
This quote shows how James Burch views the lives of the
gets more work from his slaves by being kind. Northup sees in
people he imprisons and sells and how far he would go to avoid
himself a desire to please Ford because Ford is so kind to him.
being caught in the crime of kidnapping a free man to sell as a
slave. It also shows that Northup has realized where he stands
now. Even if someone were to accuse Burch of kidnapping,
Burch could kill Northup and never have to pay the price "There is a law for the slave as
because Northup is African American.
well as for the white man."
— Chapin, Chapter 8
"I poured forth the supplications of
a broken spirit." This quote reveals a side of Chapin that goes beyond mere
kindness. When Chapin rescues Northup from lynching by
— Solomon Northup, Chapter 5 John Tibeats and his associates, he stops referring to Northup
as property. Chapin equates the value of Northup's life with
that of a white man. All his actions after this moment are
Up to this point, Northup has clung to the hope that maybe
constructed to make sure that if something happens, there are
there has been a mistake, or maybe this is just a bad dream.

white witnesses who can actually be heard in court.

"There may be humane masters ...
nevertheless, the institution that
"I saw again the faces, and tolerates such wrong and
listened to the voices of my inhumanity as I have witnessed, is
children." a cruel ... one."
— Solomon Northup, Chapter 10 — Solomon Northup, Chapter 14
This quote is a reminder that Northup is not just enslaved after In this quote, Northup expresses the notion that slavery in any
being free: he doesn't know if he will ever see his family alive form is evil. He understands that a system that teaches people
again. Northup has just escaped John Tibeats's ax and dogs, that African Americans are meant to be treated like animals
the water moccasins in the swamp, and alligators. One would may still produce masters who treat their slaves well. However,
think that at night visions of horror would run through his mind, the fact remains that the institution of slavery demeans and
but when he goes to sleep, he still envisions his children. attempts to destroy African Americans' humanity.
"So, whether he has too little or "Hopes sprang up in my heart only

too much, his approach to the gin- to be crushed and blighted."
house is always with fear and
trembling."
When Armsby betrays Northup, Northup feels there may be no
way he can escape. If that is the case, he will soon die. The
depth of emotion in this quote shows Northup's desperation to
This quote illustrates the bind slaves are in, working for a be rescued and his realization that his treatment will kill him
master like Edwin Epps. No matter what they do, they are set much sooner than if he had remained a free man. He may
up to be whipped, and it is only a question of how much. The never see his family again, and it breaks his heart to know this.
weighing of cotton is associated with abuse.
"They do not fail to observe the

"The enslaved victim of lust and
difference between their own
hate, Patsey had no comfort of her
condition and the meanest white
life."
man's."
This quote describes a common theme in the lives of female

slaves who were treated not just as workers but as sexual Northup addresses the widely held belief at the time that
objects. Of all people, Patsey had the most joyful disposition, slaves did not know what freedom meant and were not
and yet the conditions of her enslavement broke her and stole intelligent enough to understand that their lives were worse
her spirit. compared with those of even the poorest white people. White

Twelve Years a Slave Study Guide Symbols 32
people used this idea to perpetuate laws to keep African

Americans in bondage, but African Americans were well aware Northup's Violin
that their treatment was unjust.
As he grows up, Northup develops a passion for music and

"Brought up with such ideas ... that uses his violin to make extra money to support his family.
Music is an essential part of Northup's identity, and his violin
we stand without ... humanity—no symbolizes the expression of this part of himself. Music is also
wonder the oppressors of my the one part of Northup's life as a slave that he enjoys and one
that allows him to truly express himself. When Mistress Epps
people are a pitiless and buys him a violin, Northup is able to break out of some of the
unrelenting race." despair he has been feeling about not being able to
orchestrate an escape plan.
— Solomon Northup, Chapter 18 Northup's violin also symbolizes a part of his identity that
remains the same, regardless of what else is taken away from
This quote expresses the idea that white people are not born him or how his identity is changed by successive owners.
heartless and cruel, but are taught by their parents to view However, he doesn't have total control over his music, as
African Americans as animals. This is passed down from Edwin Epps forces him to play for the rest of the slaves to
generation to generation with no chance for white children to dance at Epps's command. Northup is also hired out as a
learn differently. musician to other plantations. He has no choice in any of this,

but he does get to play music, which lifts his heart despite his
lack of freedom.
"If I have failed in anything, it has

been in presenting to the reader
Slave Catcher's Dogs
too prominently the bright side of
the picture."
The barking of the slave catcher's dogs in pursuit of a runaway
— Solomon Northup, Chapter 22 raises fear in the heart of every slave. The dogs symbolize the
loss of freedom and extreme pain or death. This is because
slave catcher's dogs are dogs who have been trained
Northup's story is so gruesome that he knows there will be
specifically to attack African Americans. They are, unlike pets
people who read the book and don't believe he is telling the
or farm dogs, animals whose sole purpose is to find runaway
truth. Not only does he want to let people know he is being
slaves. The dogs are unable to tell the difference between
truthful, but he wants them to know that slavery is far worse
immobilizing a slave and mauling him or her. As such, runaway
than what he reports. This is a chilling thought for anyone who
slaves can be killed by the dogs before the slave catcher gets
reads the book.
to them in time to call off the dogs. When a slave is returned to
his or her owner, it is certain the owner will issue a severe
beating, which may finish off the slave. The dogs are a runaway
l Symbols
slave's nightmare.

Twelve Years a Slave Study Guide Themes 33
Whip and Chains m Themes
The whip symbolizes control and pain. Slave owners and Evils of Slavery
overseers use the whip to try to force slaves to work longer
and harder. The whip is used by Edwin Epps simply to assert
his dominance. He uses it to make the slaves dance as well.
Even in celebration, the whip is an instrument of control. It In Twelve Years a Slave, Solomon Northup gives the reader
reminds the slaves that they are constantly under watch and graphic descriptions of the physical, sexual, and psychological
subject to punishment no matter what they do. Northup's use violence inflicted on slaves by slave traders and slaveholders.
of the whip on Patsey is the ultimate horror—one in which one There is physical violence in the form of imprisonment in the
slave has to punish another. Not only does the owner or slave pen and the lash of the whip. Working and living
overseer use the whip to exert control but he also uses it as a conditions are inhumane, and female slaves are regularly
way to strip a slave's identity. He does this by forcing slaves to subjected to sexual violence. Psychological violence is also a
commit acts of violence on each other that they would never factor in the lives of slaves who are continually kept in a state
do otherwise. of fear.
Chains are also used as instruments of control and There also exists an insidious evil that is often invisible to white
punishment. Northup is shackled and chained with other slaves people—the spread of inhumane ideas and attitudes toward
in the slave pen. The chains symbolize a loss of freedom, but slaves. Even for kind people like William Ford, a man with a
they do not disappear once a slave has been sold. Chains and strong sense of morality, the view of slaves as beings who can
other restraints are used to punish slaves and to move them be controlled and used like animals is passed down from
from one place to another. Slaves are chained to be whipped, generation to generation. The view of African American people
and they are put in stocks when they are punished, another as inferior to white people is taught to children who watch the
form of restraint. actions of their parents. Young Master Epps watches his father
beat slaves regularly for no reason but to exert authority, and
he learns this is how he should behave.
Papers and Passes This inability to control violent impulses is also revealed in the
way white neighbors treat each other, Northup notes.
Arguments between white people, he observes, often result in
murder. However, the murderer rarely faces consequences.
Papers and passes are required for an African American to The practice of slavery reinforces this idea that morality is
move about from place to place. Northup has papers proving optional because it erases not only the dignity and humanity of
he is a free African American man. Since his father, Mintus African American people in the eyes of white people, it also
Northup, was also free, Northup should theoretically not have diminishes the value of any human being. Northup notes that
to prove his freedom. However, in a society in which African this type of environment virtually ensures that white people will
American people are assumed to be slaves unless proven find it extremely difficult to change their attitudes toward
otherwise, Northup must carry papers. When he is kidnapped, African American people.
the kidnappers confiscate his papers so he has no way of
proving he is a free man. Papers are also required in the form
of passes when a slave is transferred from one plantation to
another, or from one work location to another. Papers and Family Is Everything
passes symbolize the lack of control African Americans have
over their slightest movement in a society in which they are
generally enslaved.
Northup's memoir begins with his life story up to the moment
he is kidnapped, and he makes sure to describe his feelings for

Twelve Years a Slave Study Guide Themes 34
his family. He emphasizes that he has a great deal of love for intelligence to tell the difference between freedom and
his wife and that their children are their light and their joy. He injustice is something Northup dispels frequently. He says that
does this partly because he knows people who read his book even the slave with the least amount of life experience and
may think he willingly tried to leave his family. This is what slave education knows he or she is treated differently from white
trader James Burch tries to argue in court when he is arrested people who are in the same situation. The idea that slaves are
and tried for kidnapping. In Northup's time, the word of an too stupid to understand what it is to be free is a lie
African American man against the word of a white man never perpetuated by white slave traders and slaveholders who want
held up. African American men were not even allowed to testify to ensure they can keep the industry of slavery intact.
against white men. Northup wants his readers to know that his
relationship with his wife and children is not only
unbreakable—it is the most important thing in his life. When he
realizes he has been kidnapped, the first thing Northup thinks Personal Identity
about is that he may never see his wife and children again. He
worries they may die before he can ever get back to them. The
thought of his children sustains him through even the worst Personal identity is a theme that surfaces several times
experiences as a slave, carrying him through otherwise throughout Northup's memoir. Northup's identity as a free man
hopeless times. is beaten out of him by James Burch, who threatens to kill him
if he ever says anything about being free again. Northup is
Northup also describes in detail the scene when Eliza Berry is
required to say that his name is "Platt" and that he is a runaway
first separated from her son, Randall, and then from her
slave from Georgia. He is told he must use his new name with
daughter, Emily. Eliza insists she is not leaving without her
every slaveholder he may be sold to. His last name changes
daughter, but Emily is ripped away from her and Eliza is led off
with each owner to the new owner's last name. Eliza is also
to be transported to her new owner. Even William Ford is upset
forced to take a different name because her current name is
by the result of his purchase, but the slave trader won't sell
tied to her identity as a free woman. Erasure of personal
Emily to him, knowing he can get more money by selling her
identity is the first step in breaking the spirit of African
when she is older. The cries of Emily to her mother are
American people. Renaming a slave makes it easier for the
heartbreaking, and the idea that one's children can be taken
slaveholder to claim ownership of the slave and treat that
away, never to be seen again, is unthinkable. However, in the
person as a working animal rather than a human being with
slave trade, this is a common occurrence. Northup's
control over his or her own identity.
description of Eliza's sale and her slide into despair is just one
example of this terrible aspect of the slave trade. The physical
punishments are horrific, but as portrayed by Northup, the
worst evil of slavery is the intentional breakup of African
American families for profit.
Liberty
Northup wants the reader to know that every enslaved African

American wishes to be free. He describes a pervasive attitude
among white people that slaves don't understand the idea of
liberty and know nothing other than the life of a working
animal. Northup informs the reader that even those slaves who
were well treated told him, in confidence, that given the choice,
they would want to be free. The notion that slaves lack the

Twelve Years A Slave: What's Inside

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Twelve Years a

The title Twelve Years a Slave represents the number of years

j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1

h Key Figures ................................................................................................. 4

YEAR PUBLISHED In addition to Solomon Northup's memoir Twelve Years a Slave,

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Escape from Slavery

Early Life contacts in the North. Henry Northup, a lawyer in Saratoga,

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Northern states prior to the American Civil War (1861–65) that

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Key Figure Map

Mistress Epps Bass

Main Key Figure

Other Major Key Figure

Minor Key Figure

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Full Key Figure List Armsby is a white field worker who

Edwin Epps is a large, coarse, cruel

Randall Berry is Eliza Berry's son. He is

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Theophilus Freeman is a slave trader

Chapin is the overseer at William

General Orville Clark is a friend of Governor Governor Washington Hunt of New

John is a shy 16-​year-​old boy and the

Marshall is one of Edwin Epps's

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Miss Mary McCoy hires Northup to Clemens Ray is one of Northup's

Henry B. Northup is a lawyer and a Sam is one of William Ford's slaves

Margaret Northup is one of Northup's Shaw is the owner of the plantation

Cephas Parker is the owner of a store Harriet Shaw is Shaw's African

William Perry is the owner of a store in Benjamin O. Shekels is a slave trader.

Ebenezer Ebenezer Radburn is the assistant to Adam Taydem is Northup's white

Ramsay is one of John Tibeats's Benjamin A. Benjamin A. Thorn is hired by James

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Northup marries Anne Hampton, and the couple has three

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rescued and taken to Washington, D.C., where he tries to get

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10. Armsby betrays Northup, and Epps makes Northup flog

2. Northup is kidnapped by two men and bought by James

5. Northup works at Ford's mill and meets Tibeats.

6. Tibeats buys Northup and tries to lynch him but is stopped.

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12. Bass returns to Epps's and promises to free Northup.

14. Henry Northup takes Burch to court, but Burch is

15. Northup reunites with his wife, daughters, and new

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Solomon Northup is born in Minerva, New York.

Northup is kidnapped by two white men and put in a

Two weeks later

Northup and fellow slaves are shipped to Louisiana.

Sailor John Manning agrees to send a letter for Northup.

Three days later

Northup arrives at William Ford's plantation where he

Northup is sold to Tibeats to clear a debt. Tibeats tries

Northup is rented to Peter Tanner, William Ford's

Tibeats tries to kill Northup. Northup escapes and makes

Five weeks later

Northup visits Ford's plantation, Eliza dies, and Tibeats

The next few weeks

Epps hires Northup out to other plantation owners.

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John is a shy 16-year-old boy and the