Twelve Years a Slave is an 1853
memoir and
slave narrative by American
Solomon Northup as told to and edited by
David Wilson. Northup, a black man who was
born free in
New York state, details his being tricked to go to
Washington, D.C., where he was kidnapped and sold into
slavery in the
Deep South. After having been kept in bondage for 12 years in
Louisiana by various masters, Northup was able to write to friends and family in New York, who in turn secured his release with the aid of the state. Northup's account provides extensive details on the
slave markets in Washington, D.C. and
New Orleans, and describes at length cotton and sugar cultivation and slave treatment on major plantations in Louisiana.