Twelve Years a Slave: Including; Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Twelve Years a Slave (1853) is a memoir and slave narrative by Solomon Northup. Northup, a black man who was born free in New York, details his kidnapping and subsequent sale into slavery. After having been kept in bondage for 12 years, he was able to write to friends and family in New York, who were in turn able to secure his release.