Twelve Years a Slave Solomon Northup Author
by Solomon Northup
2021-04-11 07:43:41
Twelve Years a Slave Solomon Northup Author
by Solomon Northup
2021-04-11 07:43:41
Northup was born a free person of colour in what is now Minerva, New York. Though he claimed to have been born in July 1808 in Twelve Years a Slave, a later deposition in which he specified his birth date and age indicates that he was likely born a y...
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Northup was born a free person of colour in what is now Minerva, New York. Though he claimed to have been born in July 1808 in Twelve Years a Slave, a later deposition in which he specified his birth date and age indicates that he was likely born a year earlier. His father, Mintus, had been born into slavery but was freed following the death of his master, Capt. Henry Northup, whose will contained the stipulation that his slaves be manumitted. Mintus eventually acquired his own farm and enough land to fulfill the property ownership requirement that African Americans faced in order to vote. Solomon received some education and worked on his family's farm as a child.He married Anne Hampton in 1828. In 1834, after selling their farm, the couple moved to Saratoga Springs, New York, where they worked odd jobs to support their three children. Northup also established a reputation as a talented fiddler.
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