Twelve Years a Slave

Thanks to the recent 2013 Oscar-winning film adaptation, interest in the 1853 memoir 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup has reanimated public interest over one of the most controversial and shameful periods in American history. The faith of a single man, born free but deceived, kidnapped and sold into human bondage, is a remarkable testament to the resilience of the human spirit. After the harrowing 12 years of servitude, Northup is freed and reunited with his family, yet his narrative s last words are a haunting reminder that, despite his happy ending, thousands lived and died in their captives chains.