所罗门·诺萨普

所罗门诺萨普日(Solomon Northup Day)地方性遗产

内战之前，假如您是出生时，即享有自由的黑人，您仍然有可能被迫成为奴隶，这就是所罗门诺萨普的亲身经历。

诺萨普是个在1808年纽约密涅瓦(Minerva)出生的自由人，他是一名木匠及天生的小提琴手。1834年时，他及他的妻子搬到纽约的萨拉托加温泉市(Saratoga Springs)，并在那生下了三个小孩。1841年，诺萨普遇见了两个声称自己来自于马戏团的人。因为诺萨普需要钱，所以他同意成为他们在华盛顿特区(Washington, D.C.)的小提琴手。然而，当他们一抵达华盛顿，那两个男人立即把他迷昏并用链子绑起来，将他身上的财物洗劫一空后，再把他卖给一位奴隶贩子。

诺萨普随着其他的奴隶被运往南方的纽奥良，然后在当地的奴隶市场被拍卖。展开了12年的奴隶生涯，共为三个主人工作过；诺萨普辛苦的工作并遭受了许多残酷的对待，但他总是不停的寻求脱逃及联络他在纽约的朋友及家人的机会。1852年时，诺萨普和一位叫做贝斯(Samuel Bass)的加拿大木匠成为朋友，经由贝斯的帮忙，诺萨普寄了一封信给他在纽约的朋友。通过他朋友的帮忙，他终于在1853年重获自由并回到纽约与他的家人重聚。

诺萨普写了一本名为「身为奴隶的12年」( Twelve Years as a Slave)的回忆录，书中详述了他的亲身经历。但他留下的遗产并不只有这本书。诺萨普拥有许多子孙，他们于1999年7月24日，聚集在萨拉托加温泉市对祖先表达敬意。为了缅怀诺萨普的遭遇及其他身为奴隶的非裔美国人，萨拉托加温泉市宣布7月24日为所罗门诺萨普日。

Before the Civil War, if you were black and born a free man you could still be forced into slavery. That's what happened to Solomon Northup.

Northup was born a free man in Minerva, New York, in 1808. He was a carpenter and talented fiddler. In 1834, he and his wife moved to Saratoga Springs, New York, where they had three children. In 1841, Northup met two men who claimed to be from a circus. Because he needed the money, Northup agreed to join them as a fiddler in Washington, D.C. Once they reached Washington, however, the men drugged, chained, robbed, and sold him to a slave trader.

Northup was shipped south to New Orleans, along with other slaves, where he was sold in a slave market. He spent the next 12 years as a slave, working for three masters. Northup worked hard and endured much cruelty, but he was always looking for the chance to escape or contact his family and friends in New York. Finally, in 1852, Northup befriended Samuel Bass, a Canadian carpenter. With his help, Northup sent a letter to his friends in New York. Through the help of his friends, he regained his freedom in 1853. Northup returned to New York, where he was finally reunited with his family.

Northup wrote a memoir, Twelve Years as a Slave, about his experiences. But this book isn't his only legacy. Northup has many descendants, who gathered together in Saratoga Springs on July 24, 1999, for a tribute to their ancestor. The town of Saratoga Springs declared July 24 as Solomon Northup Day to remember the suffering of Northup and other African Americans who lived as slaves.