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"Twelve Years A Slave"...



Item # 662733

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January 18, 1853

NEW YORK DAILY TIMES, Jan. 18, 1853 

* Twelve Years a Slave
* Solomon Northup
* Kidnapped into slavery


The front page has a report "From Washington" which includes, in part, some details  of the 1841 abduction and subsequent enslavement of freedman Solomon Northup as described in his 1853 memoir "Twelve Years a Slave" and depicted in the 2013 Oscar-winning film based on his account.
Part of the subhead notes: "...Recovery of a Free Negro...".
The text reads in part: "...H.B. Northrup, Whig candidate for Congress...passed a law authorizing the Governor to take measures to restore to freedom colored citizens from that State, kidnapped into slavery...Governor Hunt issued a commission to Northrup to recover a free colored citizen of New York, kidnapped from this city twelve years ago & sold into slavery. The man was an old servant in Northrup's family...The man is now here, rejoicing greatly at his rescue..." and a bit more.
Solomon Northup was born a free man & married a free woman of color and started his family. During a trip to Washington, DC, the farmer and violinist was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery for a period of twelve years, the majority of which were spent under the ownership of a cruel and punishing master. In 1853 Northup regained his freedom thanks to the efforts of an itinerant Canadian carpenter named Samuel Bass with whom Northup had confided his story of enslavement.
Solomon Northup [erroneously spelled both Northrup and Northrop in this and other publications of the day] and his horrific experience garnered national attention as the newly free Northup worked with his Northern allies to prosecute the slave traders in Washington, D.C. who were responsible for his kidnapping.
Additionally page 4 has a small bit on the slaves recovery as well.
Eight pages, good condition.

Category: Pre-Civil War