Twelve Years a Slave Free Audiobook Download

Author : Solomon Northup

Solomon Northup was a free-born African American from Saratoga Springs, New York, who became an emblematic figure in the abolitionist movement following his harrowing experience of being kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841. Lured by a job offer, he was drugged and transported from Washington, D.C., to New Orleans, where he endured twelve years of bondage under multiple owners in Louisiana. Remarkably, Northup regained his freedom in January 1853, aided by the efforts of friends, family, and the governor of New York, after his legal battle against the slave traders in D.C. was thwarted by racial discrimination in the courts. Upon his return to New York, he became a passionate advocate for abolition, publishing his memoir, *Twelve Years a Slave*, in 1853 and delivering numerous lectures on his experiences. In the early 1860s, he also assisted in the Underground Railroad. Northup's impactful life story has inspired various adaptations, including a critically acclaimed film in 2013, and has been honored annually in Saratoga Springs since 1999 with Solomon Northup Day.