Solomon Northup: Twelve Years A Slave
"Commenting on the literally hundreds of slave narratives published during the antislavery crusade, Ephraim Peabody, a contemporary writer, noted that they were 'calculated to exert a very wide influence on public opinion' because they contained 'the victim's account of the workings of this great institution.' Among the autobiographies by former slaves, a few were especially effective in presenting a clear picture of the nature and operation of that 'peculiar institution.' The most famous were Frederick Douglass' Narrative , published in 1845, William W. Brown's Narrative , published in 1853. Northup's account is considered one of the most authentic descriptions of slavery from the viewpoint of the slave himself. Ulrich B. Phillips, who doubted the value and authenticity of many of the slave autobiographies wrote of Northup's book: '...this one has a tone which engages confidence. Its pictures of plantation life and labor a...