12 Years A Slave Sparknotes
12 Years a Slave is a movie based on a true story of Solomon Northup. The movie is based in the pre-Civil War United States and it portrays the slavery back in the time.
Solomon Northup is a free African-American man from Saratoga, New York, who plays the violin for a living. He was abducted by a few men who tricked him into joining their ‘circus’, and sadly, sold him into slavery. He aimed to stay alive until he redeems back his freedom, while retaining his dignity. After twelve years of hardships and struggles, he meets Bass, an abolitionist, who changed his life forever and made him a free man once again.
The movie was set in the 1840s, when the African-Americans, also known as the Blacks, were extremely prejudiced against blacks in the society of the United States, North and South. (Teach With Movies, n.d.). Work was harsh and there was a shortage of manpower back then, so they had to bring in slaves from Africa to help with the labour. Torn between the economic benefits of slavery and the moral and constitutional issues it raised, white Southerners grew more and more defensive of the institution. They argued that black people, like children, were incapable of caring for themselves and that slavery was a benevolent institution that kept them fed, clothed, and …show more content…
This hierarchy was set up by an ideology that justified the use of deceit, exploitation, and intimidation to keep Blacks “in their place.” Ministers preached that God was White and had condemned Blacks to be servants. Scientists measured Black skulls, brains, faces, and genitalia, seeking to prove that Whites were genetically superior to Blacks. White teachers, teaching only White students, taught that Blacks were less evolved cognitively, psychologically. (African American Registry, n.d.). Unfortunately, the propaganda has been successful since and the negative portrayal of Blacks still live on
Solomon Northup is a free African-American man from Saratoga, New York, who plays the violin for a living. He was abducted by a few men who tricked him into joining their ‘circus’, and sadly, sold him into slavery. He aimed to stay alive until he redeems back his freedom, while retaining his dignity. After twelve years of hardships and struggles, he meets Bass, an abolitionist, who changed his life forever and made him a free man once again.
The movie was set in the 1840s, when the African-Americans, also known as the Blacks, were extremely prejudiced against blacks in the society of the United States, North and South. (Teach With Movies, n.d.). Work was harsh and there was a shortage of manpower back then, so they had to bring in slaves from Africa to help with the labour. Torn between the economic benefits of slavery and the moral and constitutional issues it raised, white Southerners grew more and more defensive of the institution. They argued that black people, like children, were incapable of caring for themselves and that slavery was a benevolent institution that kept them fed, clothed, and …show more content…
This hierarchy was set up by an ideology that justified the use of deceit, exploitation, and intimidation to keep Blacks “in their place.” Ministers preached that God was White and had condemned Blacks to be servants. Scientists measured Black skulls, brains, faces, and genitalia, seeking to prove that Whites were genetically superior to Blacks. White teachers, teaching only White students, taught that Blacks were less evolved cognitively, psychologically. (African American Registry, n.d.). Unfortunately, the propaganda has been successful since and the negative portrayal of Blacks still live on