I can speak of Slavery only so far as it came under my own observation-only so far as I have known and experienced it in my own person. My object is, to give a candid and truthful statement of facts: to repeat the story of my life, without exaggeration, leaving it for others to determine, whether even the pages of fiction present a picture of more cruel wrong or a severer bondage. As far back as I have been able to ascertain, my ancestors on the paternal side were slaves in Rhode Island. They belonged to a family by the name of Northup, one of whom, removing to the State of New York, settled...

Northup describes his time as a slave in Louisiana in "Twelve Years a Slave," including the cruelty and dehumanization his fellow slaves experienced at the hands of their owners. He talks of the physical and mental torture he experienced, as well as the everyday tasks he was had to undertake. Along with describing the many people he met when he was a slave and a free man in graphic detail, Northup also discusses how they changed his life. With the aid of a kind white man from New York, Northup was finally able to reclaim his freedom after spending twelve years as a slave. In order to expose...