Twelve Years a Slave

Born free. Sold into slavery. Twelve years in chains. Twelve Years a Slave (1853), by Solomon Northup, is one of the most powerful slave narratives ever written—a true story of resilience, injustice, and the enduring will to be free. Northup, a free Black man living in New York, was kidnapped in Washington, D.C., and sold into slavery in the Deep South. For twelve years he endured brutal tre...