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Solomon Northup and James McPherson
Solomon Northup creates a narrative about a man of African-American origin abducted and sold into slavery for twelve years. The narrative entails an account of the lives of slaves and work in the plantations. It also provides an analogy of his lifestyle to that of an ordinary citizen with a musical career as the one experienced by the writer. This is narrated in a historical account of the Northup family as recorded by David Wilson. Solomon is sold to James Burch as his first owner. In addition, the writer brings out the nature of other owners that treat him differently throughout the years of slavery. It also explains the return to freedom for Solomon Northup as achieved through the Canadian white man referred to as Bass as he facilitates his release. The objective of this research is to examine the text from various perspectives including slavery, slave trade and slave ownership besides looking into the text written by James M. McPherson, What They Fought For.
Unique Observer
Solomon Northup offers a unique analysis and detail about slavery due to his background and the method used to kidnap him. It provides information on the life of slaves in terms of work in plantations. In addition, it encompasses cultural aspects of the southern part of the country to expound on the complexities that characterized slavery practiced in the region. His observation is regarded as unique due to the fact that Solomon is an educated African-American with a previous encounter with freedom as he was originally from the North (Eakin 56). This implies that Solomon was not born into slavery unlike other slaves and their accounts of a similar ordeal. The explanation given by Solomon is also unique in that the author brings out his first-hand encounter with slavery from a specific point of view as he was kidnapped as an adult. Furthermore, the author is able to delve into the complex nature of slavery as a practice in the history of the United States while detailing the unique challenges of his situation. This historical account is therefore considered a major contribution to the study of slavery especially in the South (Eakin 56). The works by Solomon are a reliable source of historical information as it has been utilized as a basis for various scholarly works and literature by researchers.
Slave Traders/Owners
James Burch was the first owner of Solomon as a slave. He is explained as ruthless as he compels Solomon to fabricate his past and give the impression that he was born into slavery. In addition, he threatens to kill Solomon if he reveals details about his stable past to anyone else. Under Burch in Louisiana, Solomon is made to believe that freedom is not his right as he is also forced to take up a new identity and assume that he was originally from Georgia. Burch played a major role in the continuation of slavery life as Solomon was convinced that the owner could act on his threat. The slave was subjected to beatings so as to submit to the demands of the owner. This affected Solomon to the extent that it took him a longer duration to seek freedom (McPherson 102).
At the hands of Burch, Solomon meets to Eliza a fellow slave in the slave pen. The slaves are moved under hand cuffs in vehicles and steam boats through Richmond and to New Orleans. During the transportation, Solomon and Eliza as well as the other slaves are exposed to various ailments including seasickness. The situation gets worse when one slave is infected with small pox and dies with the effect of dissolving their escape plans. The disease worsens the situation as the slaves are transported in disgusting and unclean environments that are detrimental to their health (SlideShare-Inc 1).
After a period of time, Solomon is sold to Theophilius Freeman, a partner to James Burch so that he moves from Washington D.C to New Orleans in Louisiana. This creates a better understanding of slavery to Solomon as he experiences various mistreatments during an auction. During this time; the book provides information on the ordeal experienced by Eliza and her daughter Emily (McPherson 102). The account indicates that slavery played a major role in separating families. This is due to the fact that the auctioning exercise conducted by Theolophilius Freeman had a negative impact on the relationships among the slaves. In the case of Eliza, her family was severely set apart by slavery as the owners argued that buying a family was costly so that she had to let go of Randall. Her pleas are ignored by Freeman with threats being made to flog her for persisting and interrupting the auction. Slavery eventually results in the separation of mother and son as Randall is purchased by a trader from Baton Rogue (McPherson 102).
The family experiences further grief when Freeman denies another trader William Ford the option to purchase Eliza as well as her daughter Emily. Ford is depicted as kind hearted and noble due to his attempt to keep mother and daughter together. Eliza eventually dies of grief caused by the separation coupled with being malnourished in health. However, Solomon is still afraid to reveal his identity to Ford despite working for the owner with respect and diligence. Ford then sells Solomon to another owner John M. Tibeats. Tibeats is described as demanding and unsatisfied with the work of Solomon in carpentry. The situation becomes more complicated for Solomon when he resists punishment by the whip that constitutes a crime that makes a slave liable to death. The owner is so affected by the incident that he almost lynches Solomon so that the slave is forced to run for his life and seek refuge at the farm of his previous owner William Ford (SlideShare-Inc 1). Fortunately, Ford saves Solomon from the punishment as he intervenes and convinces Tibeats to pare the life of the slave. Ford also persuades Tibeats to trade Solomon to another owner.
Edwin Epps takes up ownership of Solomon later as a slave in his cotton plantations. Edwin forced the slaves into submission under the whip that motivated them to work in order to spare their lives. Solomon worked for Edwin for ten years so that he had a first-hand experience of slavery in a plantation. The slaves were expected to work continuously without rest through out the year despite fatigue. They were additionally expected to submit a constant level of output over the days of the year. Edwin is portrayed as a slave owner without the heart to appreciate the works of the slaves (Eakin 56).
Violence
Violence comprises a major part of the practice of slavery as indicated in the text. This is especially the case in the cotton and sugar cane plantations where Solomon was finally sold into to serve as worker. It is apparent from the account that slaves were subjected to severe forms of punishment such as death for refusing to be whipped by the owner. In addition, it is clear that the relationship between the slave and owner is beyond hostile as shown by the Solomon illustration. Tibeats attempted to lynch Solomon and attacked him with a hatchet so that he had to run for his life through a swamp infested with alligators (SlideShare-Inc 1).
Violence is also evident in the strategies used to get Solomon into slavery. This includes the kidnapping and drugging as well as isolation used to capture him. Moreover, Solomon is stripped of his identity and documentation and violently denied his right to various forms of freedom. The slave is also subjected to violence in form of threats by his various owners including Burch. Solomon also views the South as more violent than the North as the hope of freedom is obtained from the north. This is due to the fact that the Canadian man Bass that aided in his freedom was forced to seek legal help from the North. Moreover, Solomon had lived in the North as a free man as compared to the South that subjected him to slavery (McPherson 102).
Impediments to Freedom
The road to freedom for Solomon Northup was characterized by different obstacles that threatened to condemn hi to slavery. These included the loss of a friend to small pox during transportation to New Orleans that thwarted the plans for escape. In 1852, hope for freedom was ignited by the entry of a Canadian Bass into the life of Solomon. Bass and Solomon formed a friendship that allowed more acquainted with the slave finally revealing his true identity. Solomon was able to communicate with people in the north through letters sent posted by Bass. However, the method of communication was faced by various barriers in reaching the goals set by Solomon. This as a result of identity issues attributed to slavery in addition to having to provide evidence for citizenship (Eakin 56). For instance, the letter seeking aid from the North bore the signature Solomon Northup. This presented a hurdle in identifying its origin and writer as the slave was then known by the name Platt. Moreover, the exercise of trying to identify a Solomon Northup among the numerous slaves was bound to present a major challenge to the lawyer assigned to the case Henry Northup. Ultimately, the letters aid in proving that Solomon is a free man with the eventual termination of his status as a slave.
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