Solomon Northup was an American abolitionist and the author of the memoir Twelve Years a Slave. A free-born African American from New York, he was the son of a freed slave and a free woman of colour. In 1841, two con men offered him lucrative work playing fiddle in a circus, so he travelled with them to Washington, D.C. He was drugged, kidnapped, and subsequently sold as a slave into the Red River region of Louisiana.

David Fiske is a freelance writer and independent researcher, and the co-author of Solomon Northup: The Complete Story of the Author of Twelve Years a Slave. He was previously senior librarian at the New York State Library.

Tom Butler-Bowdon is Series Editor of the Capstone Classics series, and has provided Introductions for Plato's Republic, Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, Machiavelli's The Prince, Florence Scovel Shinn's The Game of Life and How to Play It, and Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet. A graduate of the London School of Economics, he is also the author of 50 Economics Classics (2017) and 50 Politics Classics (2015).

www.butler-bowdon.com

DISCOVER A TALE OF UNIMAGINABLE ADVERSITY
Twelve Years a Slave tells the story of Solomon Northup, a free-born man of colour who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the American South in 1841. His true tale of captivity, torture and abuse brings to life the unimaginable evils of slavery in a time when it was yet to be outlawed. Equal parts slave, travel, and spiritual narrative, Twelve Years A Slave reveals Northup to be a person of astonishing strength and wisdom.
An insightful introduction by David Fiske reveals the world into which Northup was born, the kidnapping phenomenon to which he fell victim, and the legacy of slavery today.

An Introduction by David Fiske
About David Fiske
About Tom Butler-Bowdon
Twelve Years A Slave
Editor's Preface
CHAPTER I
Introductory - Ancestry - The Northup Family - Birth and Parentage - Mintus Northup - Marriage with Anne Hampton - Good Resolutions - Champlain Canal - Rafting Excursion to Canada - Farming - The Violin - Cooking - Removal to Saratoga - Parker and Perry - Slaves and Slavery - The Children - The Beginning of Sorrow
CHAPTER II
The Two Strangers - The Circus Company - Departure from Saratoga - Ventriloquism and Legerdemain - Journey to New-York - Free Papers - Brown and Hamilton - The Haste to Reach the Circus - Arrival in Washington - Funeral of Harrison - The Sudden Sickness - The Torment of Thirst - The Receding Light - Insensibility - Chains and Darkness
CHAPTER III
Painful Meditations - James H. Burch - Williams' Slave Pen in Washington - The Lackey, Radburn - Assert My Freedom - The Anger of the Trader - The Paddle and Cat-o'-nine-tails - The Whipping - New Acquaintances - Ray, Williams, and Randall - Arrival of Little Emily and Her Mother in the Pen - Maternal Sorrows - The Story of Eliza
CHAPTER IV
Eliza's Sorrows - Preparation to Embark - Driven Through the Streets of Washington - Hail, Columbia - The Tomb of Washington - Clem Ray - The Breakfast on the Steamer - The Happy Birds - Aquia Creek - Fredericksburgh - Arrival in Richmond - Goodin and His Slave Pen - Robert, of Cincinnati - David and His Wife - Mary and Lethe - Clem's Return - His Subsequent Escape to Canada - The Brig Orleans - James H. Burch
CHAPTER V
Arrival at Norfolk - Frederick and Maria - Arthur, the Freeman - Appointed Steward - Jim, Cuffee, and Jenny - The Storm - Bahama Banks - The Calm - The Conspiracy - The Long Boat - The Small-Pox - Death of Robert - Manning, the Sailor - The Meeting in the Forecastle - The Letter - Arrival at New-Orleans - Arthur's Rescue - Theophilus Freeman, the Consignee - Platt - First Night in the New-Orleans Slave Pen
CHAPTER VI
Freeman's Industry - Cleanliness and Clothes - Exercising in the Show Room - The Dance - Bob, the Fiddler - Arrival of Customers - Slaves Examined - The Old Gentleman of New-Orleans - Sale of David, Caroline, and Lethe - Parting of Randall and Eliza - Small-Pox - The Hospital - Recovery and Return to Freeman's Slave Pen - The Purchaser of Eliza, Harry, and Platt - Eliza's Agony on Parting from Little Emily
CHAPTER VII
The Steamboat Rodolph - Departure from New-Orleans - William Ford - Arrival at Alexandria, on Red River - Resolutions - The Great Pine Woods - Wild Cattle - Martin's Summer Residence - The Texas Road - Arrival at Master Ford's - Rose - Mistress Ford - Sally and Her Children - John, the Cook - Walter, Sam, and Antony - The Mills on Indian Creek - Sabbath Days - Sam's Conversion - The Profit of Kindness - Rafting - Adam Taydem, the Little White Man - Cascalla and his Tribe - The Indian Ball - John M. Tibeats - The Storm Approaching
CHAPTER VIII
Ford's Embarrassments - The Sale to Tibeats - The Chattel Mortgage - Mistress Ford's Plantation on Bayou Boeuf - Description of the Latter - Ford's Brother-in-law, Peter Tanner - Meeting with Eliza - She Still Mourns for Her Children - Ford's Overseer, Chapin - Tibeats' Abuse - The Keg of Nails - The First Fight with Tibeats - His Discomfiture and Castigation - The Attempt to Hang Me - Chapin's Interference and Speech - Ramsey - Lawson and the Brown Mule - Message to the Pine Woods
CHAPTER IX
The Hot Sun - Yet Bound - The Cords Sink into My Flesh - Chapin's Uneasiness - Speculation - Rachel, and Her Cup of Water - Suffering Increases - The Happiness of Slavery - Arrival of Ford - He Cuts the Cords which Bind Me, and takes the Rope from My Neck - Misery - The Gathering of the Slaves in Eliza's Cabin - Their Kindness - Rachel Repeats the Occurrences of the Day - Lawson Entertains His Companions with an Account of His Ride - Chapin's apprehensions of Tibeats - Hired to Peter Tanner - Peter Expounds the Scriptures - Description of the Stocks
CHAPTER X
Return to Tibeats - Impossibility of Pleasing Him - He Attacks Me with a Hatchet - The Struggle over the Broad Axe - The Temptation to Murder Him - Escape across the Plantation - Observations from the Fence - Tibeats Approaches, Followed by the Hounds - They Take my Track - Their Loud Yells - They Almost Overtake Me - I Reach the Water - The Hounds Confused - Moccasin Snakes - Alligators - Night in the "Great Pacoudrie Swamp" - The Sounds of Life - North-West Course - Emerge into the Pine Woods - Slave and his Young Master - Arrival at Ford's - Food and Rest
CHAPTER XI
The Mistress' Garden - The Crimson and Golden Fruit - Orange and Pomegranate Trees - Return to Bayou Boeuf - Master Ford's Remarks on the Way - The Meeting with Tibeats - His Account of the Chase - Ford Censures his Brutality - Arrival at the Plantation - Astonishment of the Slaves on Seeing Me - The Anticipated Flogging - Kentucky John - Mr. Eldret, the Planter - Eldret's Sam - Trip to the "Big Cane Brake" - The Tradition of "Sutton's Field" - Forest Trees - Gnats and Mosquitoes - The Arrival of Black Women in the Big Cane - Lumber Women - Sudden Appearance of Tibeats - His Provoking Treatment - Visit to Bayou Boeuf - The Slave Pass - Southern Hospitality - The Last of Eliza - Sale to Edwin Epps
CHAPTER XII
Personal Appearance of Epps - Epps, Drunk and Sober - A Glimpse of his History - Cotton Growing - The Mode of Ploughing and Preparing Ground - Of Planting, of Hoeing, of Picking, of Treating Raw Hands - The Difference in Cotton Pickers - Patsey a Remarkable One - Tasked According to Ability - Beauty of a Cotton Field - The Slave's Labors - Fear of Approaching the Gin-House - Weighing - "Chores" - Cabin Life - The Corn Mill - The Uses of the Gourd - Fear of Oversleeping - Fear Continually - Mode of Cultivating Corn - Sweet Potatoes - Fertility of the Soil - Fattening Hogs - Preserving Bacon - Raising Cattle - Shooting-Matches - Garden Products - Flowers and Verdure
CHAPTER XIII
The Curious Axe-Helve - Symptoms of Approaching Illness - Continue to Decline - The Whip Ineffectual - Confined to the Cabin - Visit by Dr. Wines - Partial Recovery - Failure at Cotton Picking - What May be Heard on Epps' Plantation - Lashes Graduated - Epps in a Whipping Mood - Epps in a Dancing Mood - Description of the Dance - Loss of Rest no Excuse - Epps' Characteristics - Jim Burns - Removal from Huff Power to Bayou Boeuf - Description of Uncle Abram; of Wiley; of Aunt Phebe; of Bob, Henry, and Edward; of Patsey; with a Genealogical Account of Each - Something of Their Past History, and Peculiar Characteristics - Jealousy and Lust - Patsey, the Victim
CHAPTER XIV
Destruction of the Cotton Crop in 1845 - Demand for Laborers in St. Mary's Parish - Sent Thither in a Drove - The Order of the March - The Grand Coteau - Hired to Judge Turner on Bayou Salle - Appointed Driver in his Sugar House - Sunday Services - Slave Furniture; How Obtained - The Party at Yarney's, in Centreville - Good Fortune - The Captain of the Steamer - His Refusal to Secrete Me - Return to Bayou Boeuf - Sight of Tibeats - Patsey's Sorrows - Tumult and Contention - Hunting the Coon and Opossum - The Cunning of the Latter - The Lean Condition of the Slave - Description of the Fish Trap - The Murder of the Man from Natchez - Epps Challenged by Marshall - The Influence of Slavery - The Love of Freedom
CHAPTER XV
Labors on Sugar Plantations - The Mode of Planting Cane - Of Hoeing Cane - Cane Ricks - Cutting Cane - Description of the Cane Knife - Winrowing - Preparing for Succeeding Crops - Description of Hawkins' Sugar Mill on Bayou Boeuf - The Christmas Holidays - The Carnival Season of the Children of Bondage - The Christmas Supper - Red, the Favorite Color - The Violin, and the Consolation it Afforded - The Christmas Dance - Lively, the Coquette - Sam Roberts, and his Rivals - Slave Songs - Southern Life as it is - Three Days in the Year - The System of Marriage - Uncle Abram's Contempt of Matrimony
CHAPTER XVI
Overseers - How they are Armed and Accompanied - The Homicide - His Execution at Marksville - Slave Drivers - Appointed Driver on Removing to Bayou Boeuf - Practice Makes Perfect - Epps's Attempt to Cut Platt's Throat - The Escape from Him - Protected by the Mistress - Forbids Reading and Writing - Obtain a Sheet of Paper after Nine Years' Effort - The Letter - Armsby, the Mean White - Partially confide in him - His Treachery - Epps' Suspicions - How they were quieted - Burning the Letter - Armsby leaves the Bayou - Disappointment and Despair
CHAPTER XVII
Wiley Disregards the Counsels of Aunt Phebe and Uncle Abram, and is Caught by the Patrollers - The Organization and Duties of the Latter - Wiley Runs Away - Speculations in Regard to Him - His Unexpected Return - His Capture on the Red River, and Confinement in Alexandria Jail - Discovered by Joseph B. Roberts - Subduing Dogs in Anticipation of Escape - The Fugitives in the Great Pine Woods - Captured by Adam Taydem and the Indians - Augustus Killed by Dogs - Nelly, Eldret's Slave Woman - The Story of Celeste - The Concerted Movement - Lew Cheney, the Traitor - The Idea of Insurrection
CHAPTER XVIII
O'Niel, the Tanner - Conversation with Aunt Phebe Overheard - Epps in the Tanning Business - Stabbing of Uncle Abram - The Ugly Wound - Epps is Jealous - Patsey is Missing - Her Return from Shaw's - Harriet, Shaw's Black Wife - Epps Enraged - Patsey Denies his Charges - She is Tied Down Naked to Four Stakes - The Inhuman Flogging - Flaying of Patsey - The Beauty of the Day - The Bucket of Salt Water - The Dress Stiff with Blood - Patsey Grows Melancholy - Her Idea of God and Eternity - Of Heaven and Freedom - The Effect of Slave-Whipping - Epps' Oldest Son - "The Child is Father to the Man"
CHAPTER XIX
Avery, on Bayou Rouge - Peculiarity of Dwellings - Epps Builds a New House - Bass, the Carpenter - His Noble Qualities - His Personal Appearance and Eccentricities - Bass and Epps Discuss the Question of Slavery - Epps' Opinion of Bass - I Make Myself Known to Him - Our Conversation - His Surprise - The Midnight Meeting on the Bayou Bank - Bass' Assurances - Declares War against Slavery - Why I did not Disclose my History - Bass Writes Letters - Copy of his Letter to Messrs. Parker and Perry - The Fever of Suspense - Disappointments - Bass Endeavors to Cheer Me - My Faith in Him
CHAPTER XX
Bass Faithful to his Word - His Arrival on Christmas Eve - The Difficulty of Obtaining an Interview - The Meeting in the Cabin - Non-arrival of the Letter - Bass Announces his Intention to Proceed North - Christmas - Conversation Between Epps and Bass - Young Mistress McCoy, the Beauty of Bayou Boeuf - The "Ne plus ultra" of Dinners - Music and Dancing - Presence of the Mistress - Her Exceeding Beauty - The Last Slave Dance - William Pierce - Oversleep Myself - The Last Whipping - Despondency - Cold Morning - Epps' Threats - The Passing Carriage - Strangers Approaching Through the Cotton-Field - Last Hour on Bayou Boeuf
CHAPTER XXI
The Letter Reaches Saratoga - Is Forwarded to Anne - Is Laid Before Henry B. Northup - The Statute of May 14, 1840 - Its Provisions - Anne's Memorial to the Governor - The Affidavits Accompanying it - Senator Soule's Letter - Departure of the Agent Appointed by the Governor - Arrival at Marksville - The Hon. John P. Waddill - The Conversation on New-York Politics - It Suggests a Fortunate Idea - The Meeting with Bass - The Secret out - Legal Proceedings Instituted - Departure of Northup and the Sheriff from Marksville for Bayou Boeuf - Arrangements on the Way - Reach Epps' Plantation - Discover his Slaves in the Cotton-Field - The Meeting - The Farewell
CHAPTER XXII
Arrival in New-Orleans - Glimpse of Freeman - Genois, the Recorder - His Description of Solomon - Reach Charleston Interrupted by Custom House Officers - Pass through Richmond - Arrival in Washington - Burch Arrested - Shekels and Thorn - Their Testimony - Burch Acquitted - Arrest of Solomon - Burch Withdraws the Complaint - The Higher Tribunal - Departure from Washington - Arrival at Sandy Hill - Old Friends and Familiar Scenes - Proceed to Glens Falls - Meeting with Anne, Margaret, and Elizabeth - Solomon Northup Staunton - Incidents - Conclusion
Appendix