Solomon Northup's Kindred: The Kidnapping of Free Citizens before the Civil War

(Hardback)

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Kidnapping was a lucrative crime in antebellum America, and many American citizensespecially free blackswere abducted for profit. This book reveals the untold stories of the captured. The story of Solomon Northup, subject of the Academy Award-winning best picture 12 Years a Slave, is representative of the deplorable treatment many African Americans experienced in the period leading up to the Civil War. This book examines antebellum kidnapping, delving into why and how it occurred, and illustrating the active role the U.S. government played in allowing it to continue. It presents case studies of dozens of victims' experiences that illustrate a grim and little-remembered chapter in American history. David Fiske's Solomon Northup's Kindred reveals the abhorrent conditions and greed that resulted in the kidnapping of American citizens. Factors like early fugitive slave laws, the invention of the cotton gin, the 1808 ban on importing slaves into the United States, and the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision made these crimes highly profitable. Fiske sheds much-needed light on the practice of kidnapping, explaining how it was carried out, identifying conditions that allowed kidnappers to operate, and describing methods for combating the crime. He offers dozens of case studies along with documentation from across historical newspaper reports, anti-slavery literature, local history books, and academic publications to provide an accurate account of kidnapping crimes of the time.

Reviews

The film 12 Years a Slave made Solomon Northup, a freeborn black from New York, a household name, but his horrific case was not unique. In Solomon Northup's Kindred: The Kidnapping of Free Citizens Before the Civil War, David Fiske reminds readers of similar cases and of discrimination against blacks in New York, where they were excluded from jury and militia duty and were required to own property in order to vote. * New York Times *
A thoroughly researched account of other free blacks who were also kidnappped and sold into slavery. These crimes were profitable before the Civil War and an example of how difficult it was for even free blacks to enjoy their liberty. * Albany Times Union *

Author Bio

David Fiske, MLS, is a librarian and researcher with extensive experience in African American history. His published works include Solomon Northup: His Life Before and After Slavery and Solomon Northup: The Complete Story of the Author of Twelve Years a Slave.