Contents.
page. Editor's Preface, 15 CHAPTER I. Introductory—Ancestry—The Northup Family—Birth andParentage—Mintus Northup—Marriage with Anne Hampton—GoodResolutions—Champlain Canal—Rafting Excursionto Canada—Farming—The Violin—Cooking—Removalto Saratoga—Parker and Perry—Slaves and Slavery—TheChildren—The Beginning of Sorrow, 17 CHAPTER II. The two Strangers...
Editor's Preface.
When the editor commenced the preparation of the following narrative,he did not suppose it would reach the size of this volume. In order,however, to present all the facts which have been communicated to him,it has seemed necessary to extend it to its present length. Many of the statements contained in the following pages arecorroborated by abundant...
Chapter I.
Having been born a freeman, and for more than thirty years enjoyedthe blessings of liberty in a free State—and having at the end ofthat time been kidnapped and sold into Slavery, where I remained,until happily rescued in the month of January, 1853, after a bondageof twelve years—it has been suggested that an account of my life andfortunes would not...
Chapter II.
One morning, towards the latter part of the month of March, 1841,having at that time no particular business to engage my attention, Iwas walking about the village of Saratoga Springs, thinking to myselfwhere I might obtain some present employment, until the busy seasonshould arrive. Anne, as was her usual custom, had gone over to SandyHill, a dista...
Chapter III.
Some three hours elapsed, during which time I remained seated on thelow bench, absorbed in painful meditations. At length I heard thecrowing of a cock, and soon a distant rumbling sound, as of carriageshurrying through the streets, came to my ears, and I knew that itwas day. No ray of light, however, penetrated my prison. Finally,I heard footsteps ...
Chapter IV.
At intervals during the first night of Eliza's incarceration in thepen, she complained bitterly of Jacob Brooks, her young mistress'husband. She declared that had she been aware of the deception heintended to practice upon her, he never would have brought her therealive. They had chosen the opportunity of getting her away whenMaster Berry was absen...
Chapter v.
After we were all on board, the brig Orleans proceeded down JamesRiver. Passing into Chesapeake Bay, we arrived next day opposite thecity of Norfolk. While lying at anchor, a lighter approached us fromthe town, bringing four more slaves. Frederick, a boy of eighteen,had been born a slave, as also had Henry, who was some years older.They had both be...
Chapter VI.
The very amiable, pious-hearted Mr. Theophilus Freeman, partneror consignee of James H. Burch, and keeper of the slave pen inNew-Orleans, was out among his animals early in the morning. With anoccasional kick of the older men and women, and many a sharp crack ofthe whip about the ears of the younger slaves, it was not long beforethey were all astir...
Chapter VII.
On leaving the New-Orleans slave pen, Harry and I followed our newmaster through the streets, while Eliza, crying and turning back, wasforced along by Freeman and his minions, until we found ourselves onboard the steamboat Rodolph, then lying at the levee. In the courseof half an hour we were moving briskly up the Mississippi, bound forsome point o...
Twelve Years a Slave