Editing Solomon Northup (section)

===Kidnapped and sold into slavery===
In 1841, at age 32, Northup met two men who introduced themselves as Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton. Saying they were entertainers, members of a circus company, they offered him a job as a fiddler for several performances in New York City.<ref name=Britannica/><ref name= Oxford/> Expecting the trip to be brief, Northup did not notify Anne, who was working in Sandy Hill.{{sfn|Northup|Wilson|1853|pp=29–30}} When they reached New York City, the men persuaded Northup to continue with them for a gig with their circus in Washington, D.C., offering him a generous wage and the cost of his return trip home. They stopped so that he could get a copy of his "free papers", which documented his status as a free man.<ref name= Oxford/>
[[File:CASH_FOR_NEGROES_Daily_National_Intelligencer_and_Washington_Express,_December_19,_1840.jpg|left|thumb|Slave trader [[James H. Birch (slave trader)|James H. Birch]] offers "cash for negroes" to resell to the Louisiana market (''Daily National Intelligencer'', Washington, D. C., December 19, 1840)]]
The city had one of the nation's largest slave markets, and slave catchers were not above kidnapping free black people.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gwu.edu/gelman/spec/arc/capital.html |title=Researching the African-American Experience in Washington, D.C. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607052554/http://www.gwu.edu/gelman/spec/arc/capital.html |archive-date=June 7, 2010 |work=[[George Washington University]] |publisher=[[Gelman Library]] System |access-date=May 23, 2018}}</ref> At this time, 20 years before the Civil War, the expansion of [[King Cotton|cotton]] cultivation in the [[Deep South]] had led to a continuing high demand for healthy slaves. Kidnappers used a variety of means, from forced abduction to deceit, and frequently abducted children, who were easier to control.<ref name="CWilson10ff">{{cite book|last=Wilson| first=Carol|title=Freedom at Risk |url=https://archive.org/details/freedomatriskkid00wils|url-access=registration|publisher= University of Kentucky Press|year= 1994|pages= [https://archive.org/details/freedomatriskkid00wils/page/10 10–12]| isbn=978-0-8131-1858-1}}</ref>

It is possible that "Brown" and "Hamilton" incapacitated Northup{{snd}}his symptoms suggest that he was drugged with [[Atropa belladonna|belladonna]] or [[laudanum]], or with a mixture of both{{sfn|Fradin|Fradin|2012|p=20}}{{snd}}and sold him to Washington slave trader [[James H. Birch (slave trader)|James H. Birch]]{{efn|Birch is spelled as Burch in Northup's book}} for $650, claiming that he was a [[fugitive slave]].<ref name= Oxford/>{{sfn|Nelson|2002|p=291}} However, Northup stated in his account of the ordeal in ''Twelve Years a Slave'' in Chapter II, "[w]hether they were accessory to my misfortunes – subtle and inhuman monsters in the shape of men – designedly luring me away from home and family, and liberty, for the sake of gold – those who read these pages will have the same means of determining as myself." Birch and Ebenezer Radburn, his jailer, severely beat Northup to stop him from saying he was a free man. Birch then wrongfully presented Northup as an enslaved man from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].{{sfn|Northup|Wilson|1853|pp=41–46}} Northup was held in [[The Yellow House (Washington, D.C.)|the Yellow House]], the [[slave pen]] of trader William Williams, close to the [[United States Capitol]].{{sfn|Nelson|2002|p=291}} Birch shipped Northup and other slaves by sea to [[New Orleans]], in what was called the [[coastwise slave trade]], where Birch's partner [[Theophilus Freeman]] would sell them.<ref name= Britannica/><ref name= Oxford/> During the voyage, Northup and the other slaves caught [[smallpox]].{{sfn|Nelson|2002|p=291}}

Northup persuaded John Manning, an English sailor, to send to Henry B. Northup, upon reaching New Orleans, a letter that told of his kidnapping and illegal enslavement.<ref>{{cite book |last=Northup |first=Solomon |editor-first=Gilbert |editor-last=Osofsky |title=Puttin' On Ole Massa: The Slave Narratives of Henry Bibb, William Wells Brown, and Solomon Northup |url=https://archive.org/details/puttinonolemassa00osof |url-access=registration |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1969 |orig-date=1853 |page=[https://archive.org/details/puttinonolemassa00osof/page/260 260] |lccn=69017285}}</ref>{{efn|While on the brig ''Orleans'' he met John Manning, an English sailor who took an interest in him and agreed to get him a sheet of paper, ink, and a pen. At night, while Manning was on watch, he hid in a place where he could secretly write a note to Henry B. Northup. Manning posted the letter.{{sfn|Northup|Wilson|1853|pp=73–75}}}} Henry was a lawyer, a relative of Henry Northrop who had held and freed Solomon's father,{{sfn|Northup|Wilson|1853|p=18}} and a childhood friend of Solomon's.<ref name="NP">{{Cite news |last=Quan |first=Douglas |date=May 24, 2019 |title=Unravelling the lives of the man who spent 12 years a slave – and the Canadian who saved him |language=en-CA |work=National Post |url=https://nationalpost.com/feature/unravelling-the-lives-of-the-man-who-spent-12-years-a-slave-and-the-canadian-who-saved-him |access-date=June 24, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Fiske - NML">{{Cite web |last=Fiske |first=David |title=How Solomon Northup was kidnapped and sold into slavery |url=https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/stories/how-solomon-northup-was-kidnapped-and-sold-slavery |access-date=June 25, 2021 |website=National Museums Liverpool |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Gates">{{Cite news |last=Gates |first=Henry Louis Jr |date=November 1, 2013 |title='12 Years a Slave': Trek From Slave to Screen |language=en-US |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/12-years-a-slave-trek-from-slave-to-screen/ |access-date=June 25, 2021 |publisher=PBS}}</ref> The letter was delivered to [[William H. Seward|Governor Seward]] by Henry, but it was not actionable because Northup's location was unknown.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Douglass |first1=Frederick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-WdODwAAQBAJ&dq=Seward&pg=PT117 |title=Slavery: Hundreds of Documented Testimonies of Former Slaves, Influential Memoirs, Records on Living Conditions and Customs in the South & History of Abolitionist Movement |last2=Northup |first2=Solomon |last3=Lynch |first3=Willie |last4=Turner |first4=Nat |last5=Truth |first5=Sojourner |last6=Jacobs |first6=Harriet |last7=Prince |first7=Mary |last8=Craft |first8=William |last9=Craft |first9=Ellen |date=2017|isbn=978-80-272-2551-4 |language=en |page=PT117|publisher=E-artnow }}</ref>

The [[New York State Legislature]] had [[63rd New York State Legislature|passed a law in 1840]] that made it illegal to entice or kidnap an African-American out of New York and sell them into slavery.<ref name="PS - freedom" /> It provided legal and financial assistance to aid the recovery of any who were kidnapped, taken out of state, and illegally enslaved.<ref name="CWilson10ff"/>

[[File:Slave Sale Record (cropped).jpg|thumb|alt=|Record of sale from [[Theophilus Freeman]] to William Prince Ford of enslaved Harry, Platt (Solomon Northup) and Dradey (Eliza), June 23, 1841.<ref>New Orleans Notarial Archives</ref>]]
At the New Orleans slave market, Birch's partner Theophilus Freeman sold Northup (who had been renamed Platt) along with two other individuals, Harry and Eliza (renamed Dradey){{sfn|Northup|Wilson|1853|pp=79, 85–86}} to [[William Prince Ford]], a [[Minister (Christianity)|preacher]] who engaged in small farming on [[Bayou Boeuf]] of the [[Red River of the South|Red River]] in northern Louisiana.<ref name=Britannica/><ref name= Oxford/> Ford was then a [[Baptist]] preacher. (In 1843, he led his congregation in converting to the closely related [[Churches of Christ]] after they were influenced by the writings of [[Alexander Campbell (minister)|Alexander Campbell]].) In his memoir, Northup characterized Ford as a good man who was considerate of the people he enslaved. Despite his situation, Northup wrote:

{{quote|In my opinion, there never was a more kind, noble, candid, Christian man than William Ford. The influences and associations that had always surrounded him, blinded him to the inherent wrong at the bottom of the system of Slavery.<ref name= Oxford/>}}

At Ford's place in Pine Woods, Northup assessed the problem of getting timber off Ford's farm to market. He proposed and then made a log raft to move lumber down the narrow Indian Creek, in order to transport the logs more easily.{{sfn|Northup|Wilson|1853|pp=98–99}} Northup built [[Loom|weaving looms]] so that fabric could be woven for clothing.{{sfn|Northup|Wilson|1853|pp=102–103}}

Ford came into financial difficulties and had to sell 18 enslaved people to settle his debts.{{sfn|Northup|Wilson|1853|pp=105–106}} In the winter of 1842, Ford sold Northup to John M. Tibaut,<ref name= Oxford/>{{efn|The name is spelled as "Tibeats" in Northup's book, which is likely the way it was pronounced locally.}} a carpenter who had been working for Ford on the mills. Tibaut also had helped construct a weaving house and [[corn mill]] on Ford's Bayou Boeuf plantation. Ford owed Tibaut money for the work. Since Ford owed Tibaut less than the purchase price agreed upon for Northup, Ford held a [[chattel mortgage]] on Northup for $400, the difference between the two amounts.{{sfn|Northup|Wilson|1853|pp=105–106}}

[[File:Solomon Northrup illustration.jpg|thumb|left|"Chapin rescues Solomon from hanging", illustration from ''Twelve Years A Slave'' (1853)]]
Under Tibaut, Northup suffered cruel and capricious treatment. Tibaut used him to help complete construction at Ford's plantation. At one point, Tibaut whipped Northup because he did not like the nails Northup was using. But Northup fought back, beating Tibaut severely. Enraged, Tibaut recruited two friends to [[lynching|lynch]] and hang Northup, which an enslaver was legally entitled to do. Ford's overseer Chapin interrupted and prevented the men from killing Northup, reminding Tibaut of his debt to Ford, and chasing them off at gunpoint. Northup was left bound and noosed for hours until Ford returned home to cut him down.{{sfn|Northup|Wilson|1853|pp=114–116}} Northup believed that Tibaut's debt to Ford saved his life. Historian [[Walter Johnson (historian)|Walter Johnson]] suggests that Northup may well have been the first person Tibaut ever enslaved, marking his transition from itinerant employee to property-owning enslaver.<ref>{{cite book |title=Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market |year=1999 |first=Walter |last=Johnson |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=80 |isbn=978-0-674-00539-6}}</ref>

Tibaut hired Northup out to a planter named Eldret, who lived about 38 miles south on the [[Red River of the South|Red River]]. At what he called "The Big Cane Brake", Eldret had Northup and other enslaved people clear [[Canebrake|cane]], trees, and undergrowth in the [[Bottomland hardwood forest|bottomlands]] in order to develop cotton fields for cultivation.{{sfn|Nelson|2002|p=291}}{{sfn|Northup|Wilson|1853|pp=153–156}} With the work unfinished, after about five weeks, Tibaut sold Northup to [[Edwin Epps]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rosenberg |first=Shimon |date=April 2016 |editor-last=Astor |editor-first=Yaakov |title=The Slave Story that Triggered the Civil War |url=https://www.zmanmagazine.com/PDF/Z77%20Enslaved.pdf |access-date=August 19, 2024 |website=Zman Magazine}}</ref>

[[File:Lsua epps 020712.JPG|thumb|right|Restored [[Edwin Epps House]], a plantation house. Now located on the [[Louisiana State University at Alexandria|Louisiana State University of Alexandria]] campus]]
Epps held Northup for almost 10 years, until 1853, in [[Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana|Avoyelles Parish]]. He was a cruel enslaver who frequently and indiscriminately punished enslaved people and drove them hard. His policy was to whip slaves if they did not meet daily work quotas he set for pounds of cotton to be picked, among other goals.<ref>{{cite book | title=Twelve Years a Slave | url=https://archive.org/details/twelveyearsasla01nortgoog | publisher=Louisiana State University Press |last=Northrup |first=Solomon |editor1-first=Sue |editor1-last=Eakin |editor2-first=Joseph |editor2-last=Logsdon |name-list-style=amp | year=1968 | location=Baton Rouge | pages=[https://archive.org/details/twelveyearsasla01nortgoog/page/n141 125]–126 | isbn=0-8071-0150-8}}</ref>

In 1852, itinerant Canadian carpenter [[Samuel Bass (abolitionist)|Samuel Bass]] came to do some work for Epps. Hearing Bass express [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] views, Northup eventually decided to confide his secret to him. Bass was the first person he told of his true name and origins as a free man since he was first kidnapped and enslaved.<ref>{{cite book | title=Twelve Years a Slave | url=https://archive.org/details/twelveyearsasla01nortgoog | publisher=Louisiana State University Press |last=Northrup |first=Solomon |editor1-first=Sue |editor1-last=Eakin |editor2-first=Joseph |editor2-last=Logsdon |name-list-style=amp | year=1968 | location=Baton Rouge | pages=[https://archive.org/details/twelveyearsasla01nortgoog/page/n231 211]–212 | isbn=0-8071-0150-8}}</ref> Along with mailing a letter written by Northup, Bass wrote several letters at his request to Northup's friends, providing general details of his location at Bayou Boeuf, in hopes of gaining his rescue.{{sfn|Fiske|Brown|Seligman|2013|pp=15–18}}

Bass did this at great personal risk, as the local people would not take kindly to a person helping an enslaved person to the detriment of an enslaver. In addition, Bass's help came after the passage of the [[Fugitive Slave Act of 1850]], which increased federal penalties against people assisting enslaved people to escape.<ref name=GlobeAndMail01a>{{cite news | first = Cassandra | last = Szklarski | title = Canadian connection to 12 Years a Slave has descendants buzzing | date = November 15, 2013 | url = https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/canadian-connection-to-12-years-a-slave-has-descendants-buzzing/article15436227/?page=all | work = The Globe and Mail | access-date = January 9, 2014}}</ref>