12 Years A Slave By Solomon Northup

Solomon Northup's, 12 Years a Slave provides us with a different outlook on slavery. The movie gives viewers an up close and personal look at North’s days as a slave and the different obstacles he faced. The film is set in 1841 in upstate New York and then moves to New Orleans. Northup was a free-born African American living in upstate New York with his wife and three children under the occupation of a violinist. You could say he lived the ideal life for someone of his stature and ethnicity; He had a family, job, and was free. Some could only dream of leading such a life, so much that it was only a fantasy to escape everyday life. During this time it was still uncommon and unheard of to see free African Americans in the North. In the movie,
This issue is a big part of history and was significant in the fight against slavery. It was a nightmarish era in American History. African Americans could be seen in the film being sold, beaten, starved, and extorted. Northup was an educated man who could read and write but when he was captured he was forced to act as if he was not capable to. The white supremacist posing as slave owners did everything in their power to make blacks feel like animals. Epps even goes as far as to compare them to baboons. He says, “They ain't hired help. They're my property.”, he is suggesting that they are in fact only property that can be bought and sold. Therefore Epps is justifying that what he is doing is right. At this time period in the South, slavery was at its height. Most of the population was whites who were pro-slavery. They needed people that could work long hours in the fields without pay. African Americans were the perfect option for them because they could control them with force and did not need to be paid. Also whites felt they did not have much to live for and were already not considered human beings. Hence the slave market was born benefiting only the caucasian people and their
He captured the essence of Solomon Northup’s journey from being free to being enslaved. Seeing as the movie took place pre-Civil War it aids in the understanding of why it took place. This movie was just a minor event leading up to the war for freedom. The actors portrayed this part of American History well. The director made Solomon’s life seem so amazing; which in that day and age it most likely was not exactly how it was. By doing this he made the difference between enslaved and freed people seem great. This drew more attention to the issue of slavery. But despite North being free he still was treated differently than whites and insulted. The movie did not portray that but I understand why not. Overall 12 Years a Slave was a pronounced biopic on the life of Solomon Northup. It served as a great way to illustrate the impacts of slavery both then and