Introduction to '12 Years a Slave'
The film ‘12 Years a Slave’ depicts slaves were treated as property in antebellum south slave states and we subjected to barbaric torture and were used as labor for farms and household activities.
Solomon Northup's Journey from Freedom to Slavery
The film ‘12 Years a Slave’ is about a man named Solomon Northup, who was born a free man in New York in 1808. In 1842 he was tricked, captured and sold into slavery in Washington, D.C. His friend Saratoga introduced him to two white men, Hamilton and Brown, who offer him a job playing violin in Washington D.C. Solomon goes out of town with these two men when they drug him and sell him to slavery. He wakes up chained to the wall and tells the slave trader he is a free man. The slave trader asks for his papers, with nothing to show the men claim that he is a runaway from Georgia, they continue to say a thing to him, and they proceed to paddle and whip him repeatedly. One day he was a free man with his family, then easily become someone’s slave and property.
Depiction of Slavery and Inhuman Treatment
This film depicts slaves in the antebellum south were treated as property, beaten, killed, raped, tortured and humiliated on a day-to-day basis. One other punishment that Solomon went through was hanging from a tree for what seemed like days, hanging there because he was saved from being killed. The slaves were bought to complete household jobs, building, cotton picking, woodcutting and cutting down trees. For Solomon, he was used in rare cases to play the violin. The torture of these people was worse than they have seen on anything before.
These men and one woman with children were in the slave pit together, he was told by another male to remain quiet and follow what they tell him. They were transported by a riverboat, with other many other slaves, some with punishments for talking and others they had to toss into the water because he was killed for not staying quiet.
Life on the Plantation: From Ford to Epps
Once they arrived in Washington D.C, Solomon and the women Eliza were sold to the plantation owner William Ford, he noticed Solomon’s potential as he played the violin during the time of the selling slaves. Eliza was separated from her children and wept for days. Ford can tell there is more to Solomon than meets the eye, however, he does nothing about it. Ford treats him decently, he is treated as prized livestock, he is protected by Ford.
During this time Tibeats one of the leaders does not like the way Solomon is building the house walls, he tries to whip him for no reason, Solomon fights back which almost leads to him being killed. Mr. Ford saves him and realizes that he must sell him to another plantation owner as he lays on the floor of his home, he needs to avoid any more trouble. He is hired out to Mr. Eldret for work clearing trees, the work was hard but he was treated fairly.
When he worked her earned a weekend pass to visit William Ford’s home on his way back, he is told that he has been sold to Edwin Epps. Solomon is sold to a nasty plantation owner, Epps, who treated his slaves nothing like Ford did, he treated his slaves like scums and worthless humans. He is always looking for a slave to whip for a job that is not done well enough for him. Epps enjoys whipping his slaves just for the pleasure of hearing them screech and scream.
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Patsey's Suffering and Solomon's Struggle for Survival
There are many other slaves in this plantation, one female named Patsey has his attention and Mrs. Epps does not approve. Epps was the worst of them all, when he was drunk, he would have the slaves dance at any time of the night for his entertainment. Those who danced too slowly were whipped, Solomon was required to play the violin. He would watch as Patsey danced, his wife would notice the attention he was giving her and this led to more punishment for Patsey as Mrs. Epps throws a bottle at her during a random celebration that was called for them to attend. This is not the only time Patsey took the punishment for Mr. Epps having a fond liking for her, she does not get food with the others and gets hit again. Epps is always looking for a reason to beat his slaves, one-night Solomon and Patsey were seen returning from the other plantation together while Epps was drunk, he rages and fights Solomon because he thinks he is becoming fond of Patsey also. Mrs. Epps stops the fight and is disgusted with her husband; this leads to more bad feelings about the slave Patsey. Later that night Epps rapes Patsey and beats her for being with Solomon. Patsey has taken abuse by being beaten and raped that she wants Solomon to take her life because she can no longer bear the abuse, he refuses. The women were used for sex and it either brought them favor or cruelty.
On this plantation they would pick cotton during the day when the time was called, they would all get their cotton weighed for what they picked that say. With the four or five people picking cotton it would have to equal at least two hundred pounds a day. The slaves that picked the least amount of cotton, where picked from the line and taken to be beaten. Solomon was to work picking cotton in the field, a job that he was poorly suited for, Epps assigns him to other hard labors instead. Solomon and other slaves were whipped for falling short of their cotton-picking quotas, for breaking a branch in the field, for appearing to be idle in the field, and for being too slow in the field.
There was an outbreak of caterpillars destroying the cotton crops of Epp’s plantation and his neighbors, he would send his slaves part-time to a judge who puts them to work at the sugar plantation to earn money for Epps. Unlike cotton-picking Solomon is a natural at harvesting sugar cane. The judge turns the service to Solomon to become the overseer of sorts and is given the responsibility of whipping any of his fellow slaves who are deemed to be standing idle. The judge realizes Solomon’s talent and refers him to his neighbor so he can play the violin at one of his affairs. Solomon has flashbacks to his life as a free man and his new life as a slave.
It was many times that Solomon got put in charge of whipping the other slaves. He was hired out to work for the sugar cane plantation each year and oversaw up to one hundred slaves for three years. When he worked on Epp’s plantation he was compelled to whipping several gangs of slaves. Solomon did not lessen the whip when Epps was around. If Epps was absent or in the distance Solomon would to try softening the hit of the whip and spare the slaves when he could. This is also when Solomon would try to help all the slaves and help Patsey avoid torment by Epps or his wife, Epps does not like that Solomon is always trying to help someone which causes more punishment and attacks for him. When Epps is drunk, he would have to avoid almost being stabbed, chasing and dodge Epps till his wife would intervene.
While he worked in the field for these men, Epps hires a poor white man names Armsby. This is when Solomon trusts another white worker named Armsby with his past. He goes to find Armsby one night and promises to pay him if he sends his letter to his friend in Saratoga, Armsby betrays him and tell Epps. Solomon turned the whole story on Armsby and is lucky believed by Epps. He was able to convince his master that Armsby is a liar. Although Epps believed Solomon’s story things were not getting any easier for him. Epps was still very fond of Patsey and Mrs. Epps hated it very much. Patsey was being whipped by Solomon due to Mrs. Epp's enticing Epps. Solomon tried to whip her gently but is then pressured by Epps at gunpoint to whip her harder. So now only were the slaves whipped, they were forced to whip the other slaves that they were with and cared for. Solomon’s whipping was not enough, Epps proceeds to whip her, this brings Patsey to her knees, she used a lot of more anger and force than what Solomon was using. There was another man that wanted to by Solomon but that did not happen because Epp’s wife heard him say that he would be ok with that arrangement. Epps refuse and Solomon gets punished with a strong whipping. His anger did not end here, he went on to punish and stab and elder, and then on to Patsey who was returning from getting soap. When she returned Epps is mad and thinks that she was having an affair with the white master, he strips her naked, ties her to stakes and makes Solomon brutally whip her, then he finishes off till he is too exhausted.
Solomon's Fight for Freedom
After being a slave for more than a decade and with many beatings to come for the slaves, this does not keep Solomon from fighting to what he wants or from trying to get his letter to Saratoga. He meets Bass a Canadian who is against slavery, this is when he decides to take the risks asking Bass for help. Bass sends the letter secretly to Solomon's friends in Saratoga. There had been no letter in return and Bass was leaving but would return at Christmas. When he returned there was no response, Bass promised he would be going to Saratoga to find his friend and get him freed from slavery. After Christmas, he returned to Epp’s fields to work. one day he was whipped for oversleeping, then he spends the next day in pain from his whipping. Epps does not consider him a human being. While Solomon was working on the plantations, Bass was helping get the letter to Saratoga and they were forwarded to his wife. Solomon’s wife Anne spent several months preparing a case to prove Solomon’s status as a free man and with the support of the governor of New York traveled to Louisiana to rescue Solomon. They met up with Bass and got the information they needed to find Solomon on Epps plantation, with the local sheriff they went and rescued Solomon on January 3, 1853. Solomon was saved from slavery with the help of his family. Not all slaves were this lucky, others did not have a way to show they were free people, others lost their life during slavery.
Throughout this film, it may be disturbing to watch but this is a completely true story of what Solomon and other slaves went through. They were treated differently for being African American, it did not matter what intelligence they had they would be working in the field, home or farm plantation for a white family. ‘12 Years a Slave’ depicts slaves were treated as property, beaten, killed, raped, tortured, and used for work daily. The slaves were subjected to barbaric torture and were used as labor for farms and household activities. Slavery was a horrible time for African Americans and not all white families believed in it, such as Bass.
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