were not atypical of men in those times, and do not detract from Northup's reputation for being clever, reliable and popular.
Little in his book has been contradicted by other sources, except for a misspelled name here and there, and a couple of misstated dates. Some of the events he mentioned had occurred nearly a dozen years before he penned his narrative, and yet he correctly recalls numerous persons and places. He describes in detail his construction of a raft, the design of a fish trap he built, the difference between axes used in the North and in the South, and the methods of planting and harvesting various crops raised in Louisiana, including cotton and cane. These suggest a man interested in the tools and undertakings around him, and an urge to completely understand them.
With no way to record the things he experienced while enslaved, Northup had to rely on his impressive memory. Indeed, it would not be surprising if he rehearsed facts and impressions frequently in his mind, so as to sear them into his memory and someday share everything that had happened. If so, it suggests a man who maintained a degree of positivity and optimism even through an interminable twelve years of misery.
LIFE PRE-SLAVERY
Prior to his kidnapping, Northup was far from being an anti-slavery activist. In discussing his time in Saratoga Springs, he makes mention of slaves he encountered who had accompanied their Southern masters to that resort town. He was sometimes asked for advice on how they could escape their masters. In his first chapter, Northup tells us that “I could not comprehend the justice of that law, or that religion, which upholds or recognizes the principle of Slavery; and never once, I am proud to say, did I fail to counsel any one who came to me, to watch his opportunity, and strike for freedom.”
Generally, Northup seems to have been occupied with earning enough money to support his family. Living in a resort town, work was harder to find in the winter months, and his was probably a hardscrabble existence at times. There would not have been much time or energy left to agitate against slavery.
The life of a free black person in the North was far from ideal. In New York State, there had been a requirement that, in order for any man to vote – regardless of his color – he must own a certain amount of property. In 1822, the state's constitution was amended and the property ownership criterion was removed for white voters – but not for blacks. (Hence the mention in Northup's first chapter that his father, being a property owner, had been entitled to vote.) There were many other limitations on African Americans, but they tended to be social rather than legal. Northup includes a few digs at these in his book. In Chapter I, he points out the respect his father had earned, despite having been a slave “and laboring under the disadvantages to which my unfortunate race is subjected …” Mintus had pursued farming, rather than having sought “employment in those more menial positions, which seem to be especially allotted to the children of Africa.”
AFTER PUBLICATION
Despite these subtle reminders of the racism that existed in America, Northup's book is not a diatribe against slavery. In the year it was published, 1853, a local newspaper observed that “Its tone is much milder than we expected to see exhibited … but, while he seems to fully realize the magnitude of his sufferings, he does not condemn all.” (2)
Surprisingly, Northup exhibited little bitterness over what had befallen him. For several years after the publication of Twelve Years a Slave, he traveled throughout the northeastern states, telling the public about his time as a slave. When he gave a lecture in Vermont in 1855, someone who had heard it said it “was wholly without vituperation, or even harshness …” (3)
In reports of his appearances, he was generally described as someone who spoke plainly and with directness. One newspaper writer noted “his unaffected simplicity, directness and gentlemanly bearing.” As was true of his book, Northup's straightforward and objective presentation was more impressive “than many fervid appeals to which we have listened.” (4) His approach in his book and his lectures was to stick to the facts, allowing others to reach their own conclusions about slavery.
Audiences were impressed with his storytelling talents. “Northup tells his story in plain and candid language, and intermingles it with flashes of genuine wit. It is a sure treat to hear him give some hazardous adventure, with so much sans [sic] froid, that the audience is completely enraptured and the ‘house brought down.’” (5) Those who listened to his lectures seemed to share the opinion of his neighbors who had provided affidavits in his favor: that he was trustworthy and intelligent.
During the period that Northup was lecturing – the mid-1850s – records show that he sometimes suffered financial difficulties. And the evidence is that he did not reside with his family full time. Given what he had gone through in the South, we can guess that it would have been difficult for him to simply slip back into family life. By about 1861, according to letters from the son of an anti-slavery pastor, Northup was working with the clergyman to help runaway slaves reach safety in Canada – the so-called “Underground Railroad.” The letters indicate that Northup was still alive at the time of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 – because at the time he reportedly visited the pastor in Vermont.
WHAT HAPPENED TO NORTHUP?
Beyond 1863, no traces of Northup have surfaced in newspapers or official records. A listing of inhabitants of New York State in 1875 includes his wife, along with other family members – but not Northup. According to the record, his wife is widowed, so Northup seemingly was deceased by that year. (Earlier census records had shown the wife to be a married woman.)
What Northup may have been doing during the Civil War remains a mystery. It's possible that his money problems continued, and he perhaps wandered about seeking work, dying penniless in some unfamiliar place. Perhaps he pursued a different vocation. He wrote very positively about agriculture; possibly he took up farming. His autobiography does not give the impression that he was the retiring sort. Despite his stated hope, once he had achieved his freedom, “henceforward to lead an upright though lowly life,” it is hard to imagine this man of action quietly sitting at home in some Northern state, merely reading about the war in newspapers. Might he have gone south, seeking out his luckless slave friend Patsey? Might he have in some way provided assistance to the Union army (which had a presence in central Louisiana as early as 1862)? As a scout – or a spy – Northup could have provided valuable information. He knew the landscape, and he also knew how to play the part of a slave, so could have gathered information without being noticed.
Perhaps a packet of letters or old newspaper clippings will be found in an attic somewhere, and the Northup story can have its proper ending. But his ultimate fate – how, when, and where he died – may never be learned.
ACCURACY AND AUTHORSHIP
Twelve Years a Slave is filled with so many details (in some cases, inconsequential ones) that is hard to believe claims could be made that the narrative was fabricated – and yet, the charge has occasionally been made. The effort that would have been required to gather all the information about individuals, locations, and methods described by Northup would have been immeasurable. It would have been easier to simply write the book as a novel.
Many details Northup included can be, and have been, verified through other sources. I could cite a number of facts that support Northup's account as being based on reality, but will merely provide one which I believe clinches the case.
Northup tells how, while he was aboard the slave-laden brig Orleans, it anchored near the city of Norfolk, Virginia. A boat set out from shore, and several more slaves were transferred to the Orleans. The ship continued its fateful trip to Louisiana, and Northup tells us that a slave, Robert, died along the way and was buried at sea. In those days, the United States government kept records showing
