In the book, family is more than marriage and blood relatives-it’s the people who show each other unconditional love and loyalty. Likewise, family can provide a sense of purpose and a reason to live. 12 Years a Slave also shows how even the mere thought of family can be a source of comfort and hope in times of bitter pain and distress. Instead, family encompasses those who show one another love, compassion, and loyalty, regardless of whether or not they are related. The narrative points out that the concept of family is broader than being related by blood or marriage. Although Solomon’s family appears very little throughout the narrative, family plays a key role in Solomon’s experiences.
The town of Saratoga Springs declared July 24 as Solomon Northup Day to remember the suffering of Northup and other African Americans who lived as slaves.12 Years a Slave centers on the twelve years of agony that author and protagonist Solomon Northup spent as a slave in Louisiana, completely cut off from his family. Northup has many descendants, who gathered together in Saratoga Springs on July 24, 1999, for a tribute to their ancestor. Northup wrote a memoir, Twelve Years as a Slave, about his experiences. Northup returned to New York, where he was finally reunited with his family. Through the help of his friends, he regained his freedom in 1853. With his help, Northup sent a letter to his friends in New York. Finally, in 1852, Northup befriended Samuel Bass, a Canadian carpenter. Northup worked hard and endured much cruelty, but he was always looking for the chance to escape or contact his family and friends in New York. He spent the next 12 years as a slave, working for three masters. Northup was shipped south to New Orleans, along with other slaves, where he was sold in a slave market. Once they reached Washington, however, the men drugged, chained, robbed, and sold him to a slave trader. Because he needed the money, Northup agreed to join them as a fiddler in Washington, D.C. In 1841, Northup met two men who claimed to be from a circus. In 1834, he and his wife moved to Saratoga Springs, New York, where they had three children. Northup was born a free man in Minerva, New York, in 1808. Northup descendants assembled with Saratoga Springs Mayor O'Connell after the presentation of a Northup historical marker, July 1999īefore the Civil War, if you were black and born a free man you could still be forced into slavery.
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