Solomon Northup
...ttempting to verbalize his position. As a slave, he was also denied writing tools, and books to read. Slave owners discouraged the education of their slaves. In doing so, this ensured the owners that they would have an ignorant slave population, and deter the possibility of revolt or a struggle for independence. Another difference between his being a slave, and being a free man was his freedom to choose the kind of work he would perform. As a free man, Solomon liked to work the land and dreamed of having enough of it to work himself. He wanted to be a farmer, to have land for raising a family, and to be able to leave this land for his children to enjoy after he dies. As a slave, he was made and forced to whatever it was the plantation master or owner needed done. Solomon worked as a carpenter, harvested cotton (but was terrible at it), and chopped sugar cane. On occasion and during holidays, he would utilize his musical ability in entertaining slave owners and their friends with the violin. Sometimes he was even compensated for this. For the most part though, he was forced to conduct long hours of arduous labor, and reaped very little in return. The only benefit of his labor was performing so well that he would avoid being whipped for falling below accepted levels of production. Solomon had little say over what kind of work he had to perform, or for whom he did it. Solomon’s greatest lost though was his loss of dignity. After having been free the majority of his life, he was not used to being looked upon as nothing more than an animal. He realized almost immediately how southern slave owners viewed blacks as property, and treated them as such. Buying, trading, and selling a slave was much like doing the same with cattle or hogs. It was nothing for a white man to sell a black woman to one customer, and sell her children to another, thus separating a family and destroying a generation. Because Solomon enjoyed t...