Primary Source Analysis-Slave Narratives

Slave Narratives

In the small section of this narrative that I read, chapter 1, I learned more about Solomons past life in Saratoga, New York with his family than his life as a slave. In this chapter, he discussed the history of his name, more specifically his last name. His last name was the same as his fathers, Mintus Northup, who got his last name from his previous slave owner. When Mintus' owner died he took his last name and was finally free. He then moved to Essex county in New York where Solomon was born during the July of 1808. Mintus Northup was born into slavery unlike his son Solomon who was born a free man and stayed that way for over 30 years. He then got married to Anne Hampton and had three kids, Elizabeth, Margaret, and Alonzo. He was then kidnapped and became a slave, working for 12 years, and was then rescued during the January of 1853.

Some questions that this narrative has raised for me are, what the words before each chapter mean and why are they significant? Another question was what happened to the wife and kids of Solomon? Where did they go when he was kidnapped or were they kidnapped as well? My last question was if he had changed much physically, with signs of aging, and if it was easy for his kids to recognize him when he returned?

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