An Introduction by David Fiske About David Fiske About Tom Butler-Bowdon Twelve Years A Slave Editor''s Preface CHAPTER I Introductory - Ancestry - The Northup Family - Birth and Parentage - Mintus Northup - Marriage with Anne Hampton - Good Resolutions - Champlain Canal - Rafting Excursion to Canada - Farming - The Violin - Cooking - Removal to Saratoga - Parker and Perry - Slaves and Slavery - The Children - The Beginning of Sorrow CHAPTER II The Two Strangers - The Circus Company - Departure from Saratoga - Ventriloquism and Legerdemain - Journey to New-York - Free Papers - Brown and Hamilton - The Haste to Reach the Circus - Arrival in Washington - Funeral of Harrison - The Sudden Sickness - The Torment of Thirst - The Receding Light - Insensibility - Chains and Darkness CHAPTER III Painful Meditations - James H. Burch - Williams'' Slave Pen in Washington - The Lackey, Radburn - Assert My Freedom - The Anger of the Trader - The Paddle and Cat-o''-nine-tails - The Whipping - New Acquaintances - Ray, Williams, and Randall - Arrival of Little Emily and Her Mother in the Pen - Maternal Sorrows - The Story of Eliza CHAPTER IV Eliza''s Sorrows - Preparation to Embark - Driven Through the Streets of Washington - Hail, Columbia - The Tomb of Washington - Clem Ray - The Breakfast on the Steamer - The Happy Birds - Aquia Creek - Fredericksburgh - Arrival in Richmond - Goodin and His Slave Pen - Robert, of Cincinnati - David and His Wife - Mary and Lethe - Clem''s Return - His Subsequent Escape to Canada - The Brig Orleans - James H. Burch CHAPTER V Arrival at Norfolk - Frederick and Maria - Arthur, the Freeman - Appointed Steward - Jim, Cuffee, and Jenny - The Storm - Bahama Banks - The Calm - The Conspiracy - The Long Boat - The Small-Pox - Death of Robert - Manning, the Sailor - The Meeting in the Forecastle - The Letter - Arrival at New-Orleans - Arthur''s Rescue - Theophilus Freeman, the Consignee - Platt - First Night in the New-Orleans Slave Pen CHAPTER VI Freeman''s Industry - Cleanliness and Clothes - Exercising in the Show Room - The Dance - Bob, the Fiddler - Arrival of Customers - Slaves Examined - The Old Gentleman of New-Orleans - Sale of David, Caroline, and Lethe - Parting of Randall and Eliza - Small-Pox - The Hospital - Recovery and Return to Freeman''s Slave Pen - The Purchaser of Eliza, Harry, and Platt - Eliza''s Agony on Parting from Little Emily CHAPTER VII The Steamboat Rodolph - Departure from New-Orleans - William Ford - Arrival at Alexandria, on Red River - Resolutions - The Great Pine Woods - Wild Cattle - Martin''s Summer Residence - The Texas Road - Arrival at Master Ford''s - Rose - Mistress Ford - Sally and Her Children - John, the Cook - Walter, Sam, and Antony - The Mills on Indian Creek - Sabbath Days - Sam''s Conversion - The Profit of Kindness - Rafting - Adam Taydem, the Little White Man - Cascalla and his Tribe - The Indian Ball - John M. Tibeats - The Storm Approaching CHAPTER VIII Ford''s Embarrassments - The Sale to Tibeats - The Chattel Mortgage - Mistress Ford''s Plantation on Bayou Boeuf - Description of the Latter - Ford''s Brother-in-law, Peter Tanner - Meeting with Eliza - She Still Mourns for Her Children - Ford''s Overseer, Chapin - Tibeats'' Abuse - The Keg of Nails - The First Fight with Tibeats - His Discomfiture and Castigation - The Attempt to Hang Me - Chapin''s Interference and Speech - Ramsey - Lawson and the Brown Mule - Message to the Pine Woods CHAPTER IX The Hot Sun - Yet Bound - The Cords Sink into My Flesh - Chapin''s Uneasiness - Speculation - Rachel, and Her Cup of Water - Suffering Increases - The Happiness of Slavery - Arrival of Ford - He Cuts the Cords which Bind Me, and takes the Rope from My Neck - Misery - The Gathering of the Slaves in Eliza''s Cabin - Their Kindness - Rachel Repeats the Occurrences of the Day - Lawson Entertains His Companions with an Account of His Ride - Chapin''s apprehensions of Tibeats - Hired to Peter Tanner - Peter Expounds the Scriptures - Description of the Stocks CHAPTER X Return to Tibeats - Impossibility of Pleasing Him - He Attacks Me with a Hatchet - The Struggle over the Broad Axe - The Temptation to Murder Him - Escape across the Plantation - Observations from the Fence - Tibeats Approaches, Followed by the Hounds - They Take my Track - Their Loud Yells - They Almost Overtake Me - I Reach the Water - The Hounds Confused - Moccasin Snakes - Alligators - Night in the "Great Pacoudrie Swamp" - The Sounds of Life - North-West Course - Emerge into the Pine Woods - Slave and his Young Master - Arrival at Ford''s - Food and Rest CHAPTER XI The Mistress'' Garden - The Crimson and Golden Fruit - Orange and Pomegranate Trees - Return to Bayou Boeuf - Master Ford''s Remarks on the Way - The Meeting with Tibeats - His Account of the Chase - Ford Censures his Brutality - Arrival at the Plantation - Astonishment of the Slaves on Seeing Me - The Anticipated Flogging - Kentucky John - Mr. Eldret, the Planter - Eldret''s Sam - Trip to the "Big Cane Brake" - The Tradition of "Sutton''s Field" - Forest Trees - Gnats and Mosquitoes - The Arrival of Black Women in the Big Cane - Lumber Women - Sudden Appearance of Tibeats - His Provoking Treatment - Visit to Bayou Boeuf - The Slave Pass - Southern Hospitality - The Last of Eliza - Sale to Edwin Epps CHAPTER XII Personal Appearance of Epps - Epps, Drunk and Sober - A Glimpse of his History - Cotton Growing - The Mode of Ploughing and Preparing Ground - Of Planting, of Hoeing, of Picking, of Treating Raw Hands - The Difference in Cotton Pickers - Patsey a Remarkable One - Tasked According to Ability - Beauty of a Cotton Field - The Slave''s Labors - Fear of Approaching the Gin-House - Weighing - "Chores" - Cabin Life - The Corn Mill - The Uses of the Gourd - Fear of Oversleeping - Fear Continually - Mode of Cultivating Corn - Sweet Potatoes - Fertility of the Soil - Fattening Hogs - Preserving Bacon - Raising Cattle - Shooting-Matches - Garden Products - Flowers and Verdure CHAPTER XIII The Curious Axe-Helve - Symptoms of Approaching Illness - Continue to Decline - The Whip Ineffectual - Confined to the Cabin - Visit by Dr. Wines - Partial Recovery - Failure at Cotton Picking - What May be Heard on Epps'' Plantation - Lashes Graduated - Epps in a Whipping Mood - Epps in a Dancing Mood - Description of the Dance - Loss of Rest no Excuse - Epps'' Characteristics - Jim Burns - Removal from Huff Power to Bayou Boeuf - Description of Uncle Abram; of Wiley; of Aunt Phebe; of Bob, Henry, and Edward; of Patsey; with a Genealogical Account of Each - Something of Their Past History, and Peculiar Characteristics - Jealousy and Lust - Patsey, the Victim CHAPTER XIV Destruction of the Cotton Crop in 1845 - Demand for Laborers in St. Mary''s Parish - Sent Thither in a Drove - The Order of the March - The Grand Coteau - Hired to Judge Turner on Bayou Salle - Appointed Driver in his Sugar House - Sunday Services - Slave Furniture; How Obtained - The Party at Yarney''s, in Centreville - Good Fortune - The Captain of the Steamer - His Refusal to Secrete Me - Return to Bayou Boeuf - Sight of Tibeats - Patsey''s Sorrows - Tumult and Contention - Hunting the Coon and Opossum - The Cunning of the Latter - The Lean Condition of the Slave - Description of the Fish Trap - The Murder of the Man from Natchez - Epps Challenged by Marshall - The Influence of Slavery - The Love of Freedom CHAPTER XV Labors on Sugar Plantations - The Mode of Planting Cane - Of Hoeing Cane - Cane Ricks - Cutting Cane - Description of the Cane Knife - Winrowing - Preparing for Succeeding Crops - Description of Hawkins'' Sugar Mill on Bayou Boeuf - The Christmas Holidays - The Carnival Season of the Children of Bondage - The Christmas Supper - Red, the Favorite Color - The Violin, and the Consolation it Afforded - The Christmas Dance - Lively, the Coquette - Sam Roberts, and his Rivals - Slave Songs - Southern Life as it is - Three Days in the Year - The System of Marriage - Uncle Abram''s Contempt of Matrimony CHAPTER XVI Overseers - How they are Armed and Accompanied - The Homicide - His Execution at Marksville - Slave Drivers - Appointed Driver on Removing to Bayou Boeuf - Practice Makes Perfect - Epps''s Attempt to Cut Platt''s Throat - The Escape from Him - Protected by the Mistress - Forbids Reading and Writing - Obtain a Sheet of Paper after Nine Years'' Effort - The Letter - Armsby, the Mean White - Partially confide in him - His Treachery - Epps'' Suspicions - How they were quieted - Burning the Letter - Armsby leaves the Bayou - Disappointment and Despair CHAPTER XVII Wiley Disregards the Counsels of Aunt Phebe and Uncle Abram, and is Caught by the Patrollers - The Organization and Duties of the Latter - Wiley Runs Away - Speculations in Regard to Him - His Unexpected Return - His Capture on the Red River, and Confinement in Alexandria Jail - Discovered by Joseph B. Roberts - Subduing Dogs in Anticipation of Escape - The Fugitives in the Great Pine Woods - Captured by Adam Taydem and the Indians - Augustus Killed by Dogs - Nelly, Eldret''s Slave Woman - The Story of Celeste - The Concerted Movement - Lew Cheney, the Traitor - The Idea of Insurrection CHAPTER XVIII O''Niel, the Tanner - Conversation with Aunt Phebe Overheard - Epps in the Tanning Business - Stabbing of Uncle Abram - The Ugly Wound - Epps is Jealous - Patsey is Missing - Her Return from Shaw''s - Harriet, Shaw''s Black Wife - Epps Enraged - Patsey Denies his Charges - She is Tied Down Naked to Four Stakes - T.