Solomon Northup was a professional violinist and family man living in Saratoga Springs, New York. In 1841, he was lured to Washington, D.C., with the promise of high-paying work in a traveling circus, only to be drugged, kidnapped, and sold into the domestic slave trade.
: For 12 years, Northup was held in Louisiana under several masters, most notably the brutal Edwin Epps. 12 years of slave
: He eventually regained his freedom in 1853 with the help of a Canadian abolitionist named Samuel Bass and legal intervention from his friends in New York. Solomon Northup was a professional violinist and family
: After his return, Northup published his memoir, which became a powerful tool for the abolitionist movement, even being used by Harriet Beecher Stowe to validate the authenticity of her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin . The Acclaimed 2013 Film : He eventually regained his freedom in 1853