12 Years a Slave summary

Imagine being a free individual with a loving family, and then inexplicably finding yourself a slave, bound in chains. That's the unthinkable reality our protagonist found himself in.Our story starts in 1841. Solomon Northup was living a peaceful life  in Saratoga Springs with his wife Anne and his children. He was born in New York State as a free man, which had abolished slavery by the time of his birth in 1807 and worked as a farmer in the lands his father, Mintus Northup, had bought after being freed from slavery by a former master. Solomon was educated and a skilled violinist and, at the time, had been looking for jobs as a performer.One day he was approached by two men by the names of Hamilton and Brown. They were members of a traveling circus and were looking for a violin player. They offered Northup a job that was too good to turn down, promising him high wages and quick return. Excited by the possibilities and  trusting of these seemingly good men, Northup agreed to travel with them to Washington, where he would be performing. 

Upon reaching Washington, D.C.,the pair of strangers drugged Northup. Why? Because slavery was legal in that city at that time. Upon regaining consciousness, Northup found himself in chains: despite his assertions of being a free man, he was transported to New Orleans, renamed "Platt" and was sold as a slave in the market. He was initially purchased by a kind and religious planter, William Ford. Despite being a slave owner, Ford was depicted in a somewhat positive light in Northup's accounts and even gifted Northup a violin. Despite Ford's relative kindness, Northup struggles with his loss of freedom. Yet, economic difficulties made him sell Northup to a less considerate owner, John M. Tibeats.