Chapter I: Front Matter

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Solomon Northup (signed)]

FIFTH THOUSAND.

TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE.

NARRATIVE

OF

SOLOMON NORTHUP,

A CITIZEN OF NEW-YORK,

KIDNAPPED IN WASHINGTON CITY IN 1841,

AND

RESCUED IN 1853,

FROM A COTTON PLANTATION NEAR THE RED RIVER,
IN LOUISIANA.

AUBURN:
DERBY AND MILLER.

BUFFALO:
DERBY, ORTON AND MULLIGAN.

LONDON:
SAMPSON LOW, SON & COMPANY, 47 LUDGATE HILL.

1853.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, by

DERBY AND MILLER,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Northern District of New-York.

ENTERED IN LONDON AT STATIONERS' HALL.

TO

HARRIET BEECHER STOWE:

WHOSE NAME,

THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, IS IDENTIFIED WITH THE

GREAT REFORM:

THIS NARRATIVE, AFFORDING ANOTHER

Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin,

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

"Such dupes are men to custom, and so prone
To reverence what is ancient, and can plead
A course of long observance for its use,
That even servitude, the worst of ills,
Because delivered down from sire to son,
Is kept and guarded as a sacred thing.
But is it fit, or can it bear the shock
Of rational discussion, that a man
Compounded and made up, like other men,
Of elements tumultuous, in whom lust
And folly in as ample measure meet,
As in the bosom of the slave he rules,
Should be a despot absolute, and boast
Himself the only freeman of his land?"

COWPER.

CONTENTS.

PAGE.

EDITOR'S PREFACE, 15

CHAPTER I.

Introductory--Ancestry--The Northup Family--Birth and
Parentage--Mintus Northup--Marriage with Anne Hampton--Good
Resolutions--Champlain Canal--Rafting Excursion to
Canada--Farming--The Violin--Cooking--Removal to Saratoga--Parker
and Perry--Slaves and Slavery--The Children--The Beginning of
Sorrow, 17

CHAPTER II.

The two Strangers--The Circus Company--Departure from
Saratoga--Ventriloquism and Legerdemain--Journey to New-York--Free
Papers--Brown and Hamilton--The haste to reach the Circus--Arrival
in Washington--Funeral of Harrison--The Sudden Sickness--The
Torment of Thirst--The Receding Light--Insensibility--Chains and
Darkness, 28

CHAPTER III.

Painful Meditations--James H. Burch--Williams' Slave Pen in
Washington--The Lackey, Radburn--Assert my Freedom--The Anger of
the Trader--The Paddle and Cat-o'-nine-tails--The Whipping--New
Acquaintances--Ray, Williams, and Randall--Arrival of Little Emily
and her Mother in the Pen--Maternal Sorrows--The Story of Eliza,
40

CHAPTER IV.

Eliza's Sorrows--Preparation to Embark--Driven Through the Streets
of Washington--Hail, Columbia--The Tomb of Washington--Clem
Ray--The Breakfast on the Steamer--The happy Birds--Aquia
Creek--Fredericksburgh--Arrival in Richmond--Goodin and his
Slave Pen--Robert, of Cincinnati--David and his Wife--Mary and
Lethe--Clem's Return--His subsequent Escape to Canada--The Brig
Orleans--James H. Burch, 54

CHAPTER V.

Arrival at Norfolk--Frederick and Maria--Arthur, the
Freeman--Appointed Steward--Jim, Cuffee, and Jenny--The
Storm--Bahama Banks--The Calm--The Conspiracy--The Long Boat--The
Small-Pox--Death of Robert--Manning, the Sailor--The Meeting in
the Forecastle--The Letter--Arrival at New-Orleans--Arthur's
Rescue--Theophilus Freeman, the Consignee--Platt--First Night in
the New-Orleans Slave Pen, 65

CHAPTER VI.

Freeman's Industry--Cleanliness and Clothes--Exercising
in the Show Room--The Dance--Bob, the Fiddler--Arrival of
Customers--Slaves Examined--The Old Gentleman of New-Orleans--Sale
of David, Caroline, and Lethe--Parting of Randall and
Eliza--Small-Pox--The Hospital--Recovery and Return to Freeman's
Slave Pen--The Purchaser of Eliza, Harry, and Platt--Eliza's Agony
on Parting from Little Emily, 78

CHAPTER VII.

The Steamboat Rodolph--Departure from New-Orleans--William
Ford--Arrival at Alexandria, on Red River--Resolutions--The Great
Pine Woods--Wild Cattle--Martin's Summer Residence--The Texas
Road--Arrival at Master Ford's--Rose--Mistress Ford--Sally and
her Children--John, the Cook--Walter, Sam, and Antony--The Mills
on Indian Creek--Sabbath Days--Sam's Conversion--The Profit of
Kindness--Rafting--Adam Taydem, the Little White Man--Cascalla
and his Tribe--The Indian Ball--John M. Tibeats--The Storm
approaching, 89

CHAPTER VIII.

Ford's Embarrassments--The Sale to Tibeats--The Chattel
Mortgage--Mistress Ford's Plantation on Bayou Boeuf--Description
of the Latter--Ford's Brother-in-law, Peter Tanner--Meeting
with Eliza--She still Mourns for her Children--Ford's Overseer,
Chapin--Tibeats' Abuse--The Keg of Nails--The First Fight with
Tibeats--His Discomfiture and Castigation--The attempt to Hang
me--Chapin's Interference and Speech--Unhappy Reflections--Abrupt
Departure of Tibeats, Cook, and Ramsey--Lawson and the Brown
Mule--Message to the Pine Woods, 105

CHAPTER IX.

The Hot Sun--Yet bound--The Cords sink into my Flesh--Chapin's
Uneasiness--Speculation--Rachel, and her Cup of Water--Suffering
increases--The Happiness of Slavery--Arrival of Ford--He cuts the
Cords which bind me, and takes the Rope from my Neck--Misery--The
gathering of the Slaves in Eliza's Cabin--Their Kindness--Rachel
Repeats the Occurrences of the Day--Lawson entertains his
Companions with an Account of his Ride--Chapin's apprehensions
of Tibeats--Hired to Peter Tanner--Peter expounds the
Scriptures--Description of the Stocks, 118

CHAPTER X.

Return to Tibeats--Impossibility of pleasing him--He attacks me
with a Hatchet--The Struggle over the Broad Axe--The Temptation
to Murder him--Escape across the Plantation--Observations from
the Fence--Tibeats approaches, followed by the Hounds--They take
my Track--Their loud Yells--They almost overtake me--I reach the
Water--The Hounds confused--Moccasin Snakes--Alligators--Night
in the "Great Pacoudrie Swamp"--The Sounds of Life--North-West
Course--Emerge into the Pine Woods--Slave and his Young
Master--Arrival at Ford's--Food and Rest, 131

CHAPTER XI.

The Mistress' Garden--The Crimson and Golden Fruit--Orange and
Pomegranate Trees--Return to Bayou Boeuf--Master Ford's Remarks on
the way--The Meeting-with Tibeats--His Account of the Chase--Ford
censures his Brutality--Arrival at the Plantation--Astonishment
of the Slaves on seeing me--The anticipated Flogging--Kentucky
John--Mr. Eldret, the Planter--Eldret's Sam--Trip to the
"Big Cane Brake"--The Tradition of "Sutton's Field"--Forest
Trees--Gnats and Mosquitoes--The Arrival of Black Women in the Big
Cane--Lumber Women--Sudden Appearance of Tibeats--His Provoking
Treatment--Visit to Bayou Boeuf--The Slave Pass--Southern
Hospitality--The Last of Eliza--Sale to Edwin Epps, 146

CHAPTER XII.

Personal Appearance of Epps--Epps, Drunk and Sober--A Glimpse
of his History--Cotton Growing--The Mode of Ploughing and
Preparing Ground--Of Planting, of Hoeing, of Picking, of
Treating Raw Hands--The difference in Cotton Pickers--Patsey
a remarkable one--Tasked according to Ability--Beauty of a
Cotton Field--The Slave's Labors--Fear of Approaching the
Gin-House--Weighing--"Chores"--Cabin Life--The Corn Mill--The Uses
of the Gourd--Fear of Oversleeping--Fear continually--Mode of
Cultivating Corn--Sweet Potatoes--Fertility of the Soil--Fattening
Hogs--Preserving Bacon--Raising Cattle--Shooting-Matches--Garden
Products--Flowers and Verdure, 162

CHAPTER XIII.

The Curious Axe-Helve--Symptoms of approaching Illness--Continue
to decline--The Whip ineffectual--Confined to the Cabin--Visit by
Dr. Wines--Partial Recovery--Failure at Cotton Picking--What may
be heard on Epps' Plantation--Lashes Graduated--Epps in a Whipping
Mood--Epps in a Dancing Mood--Description of the Dance--Loss of
Rest no Excuse--Epps' Characteristics--Jim Burns--Removal from
Huff Power to Bayou Boeuf--Description of Uncle Abram; of Wiley;
of Aunt Phebe; of Bob, Henry, and Edward; of Patsey; with a
Genealogical Account of each--Something of their Past History, and
Peculiar Characteristics-- Jealousy and Lust--Patsey, the Victim,
176

CHAPTER XIV.

Destruction of the Cotton Crop in 1845--Demand for Laborers
in St. Mary's Parish--Sent thither in a Drove--The Order
of the March--The Grand Coteau--Hired to Judge Turner on
Bayou Salle--Appointed Driver in his Sugar House--Sunday
Services--Slave Furniture; how obtained--The Party at Yarney's,
in Centreville--Good Fortune--The Captain of the Steamer--His
Refusal to Secrete me--Return to Bayou Boeuf--Sight of
Tibeats--Patsey's Sorrows--Tumult and Contention--Hunting the
Coon and Opossum--The Cunning of the latter--The Lean Condition
of the Slave--Description of the Fish Trap--The Murder of the
Man from Natchez--Epps Challenged by Marshall--The Influence of
Slavery--The Love of Freedom, 191

CHAPTER XV.

Labors on Sugar Plantations--The Mode of Planting Cane--of
Hoeing Cane--Cane Ricks--Cutting Cane--Description of the Cane
Knife--Winrowing--Preparing for Succeeding Crops--Description of
Hawkins' Sugar Mill on Bayou Boeuf--The Christmas Holidays--The
Carnival Season of the Children of Bondage--The Christmas
Supper--Red, the Favorite Color--The Violin, and the Consolation
it afforded--The Christmas Dance--Lively, the Coquette--Sam
Roberts, and his Rivals--Slave Songs--Southern Life as it
is--Three Days in the Year--The System of Marriage--Uncle Abram's
Contempt of Matrimony, 208

CHAPTER XVI.

Overseers--How they are Armed and Accompanied--The Homicide--His
Execution at Marksville--Slave Drivers--Appointed Driver
on removing to Bayou Boeuf--Practice makes perfect--Epps's
Attempt to Cut Platt's Throat--The Escape from him--Protected
by the Mistress--Forbids Reading and Writing--Obtain a Sheet
of Paper after Nine Years' Effort--The Letter--Armsby, the
Mean White--Partially confide in him--His Treachery--Epps'
Suspicions--How they were quieted--Burning the Letter--Armsby
leaves the Bayou--Disappointment and Despair, 223

CHAPTER XVII.

Wiley disregards the counsels of Aunt Phebe and Uncle Abram,
and is caught by the Patrollers--The Organization and Duties of
the latter--Wiley Runs Away--Speculations in regard to him--His
Unexpected Return--His Capture on the Red River, and Confinement
in Alexandria Jail--Discovered by Joseph B. Roberts--Subduing
Dogs in anticipation of Escape--The Fugitives in the Great Pine
Woods--Captured by Adam Taydem and the Indians--Augustus killed
by Dogs--Nelly, Eldret's Slave Woman--The Story of Celeste--The
Concerted Movement--Lew Cheney, the Traitor--The Idea of
Insurrection, 236

CHAPTER XVIII.

O'Niel, the Tanner--Conversation with Aunt Phebe overheard--Epps
in the Tanning Business--Stabbing of Uncle Abram--The Ugly
Wound--Epps is Jealous--Patsey is Missing--Her Return from
Shaw's--Harriet, Shaw's Black Wife--Epps Enraged--Patsey
denies his Charges--She is Tied Down Naked to Four Stakes--The
Inhuman Flogging--Flaying of Patsey--The Beauty of the Day--The
Bucket of Salt Water--The Dress stiff with Blood--Patsey
grows Melancholy--Her Idea of God and Eternity--Of Heaven and
Freedom--The Effect of Slave-Whipping--Epps' Oldest Son--"The
Child is Father to the Man," 250

CHAPTER XIX.

Avery, on Bayou Rouge--Peculiarity of Dwellings--Epps builds
a New House--Bass, the Carpenter--His Noble Qualities--His
Personal Appearance and Eccentricities--Bass and Epps discuss
the Question of Slavery--Epps' Opinion of Bass--I make myself
known to him--Our Conversation--His Surprise--The Midnight
Meeting on the Bayou Bank--Bass' Assurances--Declares War
against Slavery--Why I did not Disclose my History--Bass writes
Letters--Copy of his Letter to Messrs. Parker and Perry--The Fever
of Suspense--Disappointments--Bass endeavors to cheer me--My Faith
in him, 263

CHAPTER XX.

Bass faithful to his word--His Arrival on Christmas Eve--The
Difficulty of Obtaining an Interview--The Meeting in the
Cabin--Non-arrival of the Letter--Bass announces his Intention
to proceed North--Christmas--Conversation between Epps and
Bass--Young Mistress McCoy, the Beauty of Bayou Boeuf--The "Ne
plus ultra" of Dinners--Music and Dancing--Presence of the
Mistress--Her Exceeding Beauty--The Last Slave Dance--William
Pierce--Oversleep myself--The Last Whipping--Despondency--Cold
Morning--Epps' Threats--The Passing Carriage--Strangers
approaching through the Cotton-Field--Last Hour on Bayou Boeuf, 279

CHAPTER XXI.

The Letter reaches Saratoga--Is forwarded to Anne--Is laid
before Henry B. Northup--The Statute of May 14, 1840--Its
Provisions--Anne's Memorial to the Governor--The affidavits
Accompanying it--Senator Soule's Letter--Departure of the Agent
appointed by the Governor--Arrival at Marksville--The Hon. John
P. Waddill--The Conversation on New-York Politics--It suggests
a Fortunate Idea--The Meeting with Bass--The Secret out--Legal
Proceedings instituted--Departure of Northup and the Sheriff
from Marksville for Bayou Boeuf--Arrangements on the Way--Reach
Epps' Plantation--Discover his Slaves in the Cotton-Field--The
Meeting--The Farewell, 289

CHAPTER XXII.

Arrival in New-Orleans--Glimpse of Freeman--Genois, the
Recorder--His Description of Solomon--Reach Charleston Interrupted
by Custom House Officers--Pass through Richmond--Arrival
in Washington--Burch Arrested--Shekels and Thorn--Their
Testimony--Burch Acquitted--Arrest of Solomon--Burch withdraws the
Complaint--The Higher Tribunal--Departure from Washington--Arrival
at Sandy Hill--Old Friends and Familiar Scenes--Proceed to Glens
Falls--Meeting with Anne, Margaret, and Elizabeth--Solomon Northup
Staunton--Incidents--Conclusion, 310