The book 12 Years a Slave is an autobiography that chronicles the life of Solomon Northup. Northup was born free in New York State, but at the age of 33, he was drugged, kidnapped, and enslaved for 12 years. Northup was kidnapped at a time when the nation was divided over slavery. In the North, many African Americans were born free while in the South they were sold, kidnapped, or born into slavery. Northup was raised free but forced into slavery for 12 years where he suffered brutal beatings and torture at the hands of a cruel slave owner. Northup's father was a slave to the Northup family but was freed when the Northup family moved to New York State where slavery had been abolished. As a child, he worked on his father's farm and worked as a raft salesman in upstate New York. When Northup was a young man, he married Anne Hampton on Christmas Day and they had three children (Wilson, 1853). Northup was an excellent violinist and when asked to join a group of traveling musicians for good pay, he eagerly agreed. The bait was a wage of one dollar a day and three...