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Title
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Solomon Northup
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Description
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Solomon Northrup, a free African American from New York, arrived in Washington in 1841 in the company of two white men who had promised him a job as a fiddler. After a day touring the Capitol and White House Grounds, the men drugged him and handed him over to a slave trader. He was imprisoned in Williams' Slave Pen near the Mall, and then sold into slavery for $1,000. He labored for twelve years on a cotton plantation until northern abolitionists, hearing of his plight, obtained his freedom through a series of legal battles in 1853.
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Creator
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Solomon Northup
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Source
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Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup (London, 1853). View original document.
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Coverage
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1830-1859
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birthday
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1808
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Theme
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commerce & trade
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ghost mall
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politics & protest
northupfpa.tif