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Category: National Expansion and Reform (1815-1860)

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12 Years a Slave: Primary Sources on the Kidnapping of Free African Americans

Posted by: Cheryl Lederle

Currently 12 Years a Slave, the film version of the true story of Solomon Northup, is showing in theaters. His account is a powerful one: A free African American, Northup was kidnapped in 1841 and taken from New York to Washington, D.C., then to New Orleans, where he was sold into twelve years of slavery. A study of primary sources from the Library of Congress indicates that Northrup's experience was far from unique.