12 Years a Slave was during the time in America where having human workers, usually African Americans, work for you for free. The labor was forced and free. The Americans would pay the slave traders for the slaves to take back to their ranch. This book was written by a slave who was a free man, but was tricked into captivity. This was illegal due to an agreement with the North and South.
Solomon Northup was a free African American male who lived in the North during the civil war. He made a living for his family by playing the fiddle for the wealthy people at their parties. One day he was tricked by people running running a circus into slavery. This was highly illegal during this time. If they were caught doing this they would be arrested and punished by the law. Unfortunately for Solomon he didn’t have his free papers with him, so the people were able to get away with this crime for twelve years without getting caught. Slavery was a big point of disagreement between the North and South. This problem would lead to the civil war between the two. This war would later be won by the north and lead to Abraham Lincoln emancipating the slaves out of slavery. Most of the slaves learned that the only way they would get emancipated without the help of the law was to run away. The underground rail road was one of the best ways to get up north. Solomon never tried to run back to the North. Actually he enjoyed his first master that he had. He thought highly of him. This goes to show that not all of the slave masters down South treated their slaves poorly. Many slaves learned that if you could read and right you have a better chance getting free. Solomon knew how to do both, but never showed it to anyone because he knew that if he did he might be whipped or sold off to a worse slave master. The masters didn’t want their slaves to know how to read and write because they felt it would help the slave be able to revolt against them.
Near the end of the book Solomon...