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After living as a free man for the first thirty-three years of his life, Solomon Northup was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery, leaving behind a wife and three children in New York. Sold to a Louisiana plantation owner who was also a Baptist preacher, Northup proceeded to serve several masters, some who were brutally cruel and others whose humanity he praised. After years of bondage, he met an outspoken abolitionist from Canada who notified Northup''s family of his whereabouts, and he was subsequently rescued by an official agent of the state of New York. Twelve Years a Slave is his account of this unusual series of events. Northup describes life on cotton and sugar cane plantations in meticulous detail. One slave narrative scholar calls his narrative "one of the most detailed and realistic portraits of slave life." He also leavens his account with wry humor and cultural commentary, making many parts of the narrative read more like travel writing than abolitionist literature. Twelve Years a Slave presents the remarkable story of a free man thrown into a hostile and foreign world, who survived by his courage and cunning.A DOCSOUTH BOOK. This collaboration between UNC Press and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library brings classic works from the digital library of Documenting the American South back into print. DocSouth Books uses the latest digital technologies to make these works available in paperback and e-book formats. Each book contains a short summary and is otherwise unaltered from the original publication. DocSouth Books provide affordable and easily accessible editions to a new generation of scholars, students, and general readers.

This 1876 version of Josiah Henson’s autobiography, the first of many editions issued by British editor John Lobb, followed the original 1849 edition and a much-expanded 1858 version. The autobiography traces Henson’s life from his birth into slavery in Maryland in 1789; his escape to Canada in 1830; his participation in the founding of the Dawn Settlement for fugitive slaves in Ontario; and his several trips to England to raise funds for the settlement. Henson, who in his later years toured as the model for the Uncle Tom of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, describes his meeting with Stowe in 1852 and draws parallels between the histories of other Uncle Tom’s Cabin characters and his own acquaintances. While Stowe herself stressed that there was no single model for her title character, she called Henson a “parallel instance” for Uncle Tom in A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Reprinted multiple times in the United States and Britain in the nineteenth century and translated into several other languages, Henson’s autobiography continues to reward readers with its descriptions not only of slave life in Maryland and Kentucky, but also of the business and educational ventures of escaped slaves in Ontario.A DOCSOUTH BOOK. This collaboration between UNC Press and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library brings classic works from the digital library of Documenting the American South back into print. DocSouth Books uses the latest digital technologies to make these works available in paperback and e-book formats. Each book contains a short summary and is otherwise unaltered from the original publication. DocSouth Books provide affordable and easily accessible editions to a new generation of scholars, students, and general readers.

A Sketch of the Life of Okah Tubbee, published in 1852, begins with testimonials regarding Okah Tubbee''s flute-playing abilities and with a lightly edited version of Lewis Allen''s "Essay Upon the Indian Character" from the earlier edition of Tubbee''s narrative, as well as the so-called Indian Covenant "between the Six Nations and the Choctaws." Tubbee''s narrative begins with brief recollections of his father and Tubbee''s childhood with his "unnatural mother." Tubbee''s visit to Choctaw Indians in Alexandria is described before his apprenticeship to the cruel blacksmith Mr. Russell, and his subsequent apprenticeship to Dr. A.P. Merrill, leading to his desire to become an "Indian Doctor." Tubbee''s details his travels and voyages by steamboat, first as a musician with the Louisiana Volunteers and later on his own. Towards the end of his narrative, Tubbee expresses a desire to let his wife, Laah Ceil, speak for herself. In this final, additional section, Laah Ceil describes her birth, her education, her Christian convictions, and the manner in which she met and married Tubbee. She also recounts their travels together and their advocacy "in behalf of the Indians" and against forced relocation. The Sketch concludes with an original poem by Laah Ceil and a collection of letters, documents, and vouchers attesting to Okah Tubbee''s identity and his medical skill.A DOCSOUTH BOOK. This collaboration between UNC Press and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library brings classic works from the digital library of Documenting the American South back into print. DocSouth Books uses the latest digital technologies to make these works available in paperback and e-book formats. Each book contains a short summary and is otherwise unaltered from the original publication. DocSouth Books provide affordable and easily accessible editions to a new generation of scholars, students, and general readers.