How the New York Times covered '12 Years a Slave’s' Solomon Northup in 1853

By: Joseph Stromberg | Salon

For 12 years, violinist Solomon Northup toiled as a slave in Louisiana in secret, after being kidnapped from his home in Saratoga, New York, and sold for $650. Finally, on January 4, 1853, after an allied plantation worker sent several letters north on his behalf, Northup was freed, and returned home.