12 Years a Slave: A Historical Review of the Plight of Slaves in the 19th Century

This essay provides a historical review of the film 12 Years a Slave, which portrays the true plight of slaves in the 19th century. It discusses the slave trade and the conditions of the slaves during that time. The essay also highlights the crops grown in the southern states and the Caribbean, which helped plantation owners earn huge amounts of money and become rich.

Running head: HISTORY ESSAY
History Essay
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1HISTORY ESSAY
The film chosen for this review is 12 Years a Slave. The film was released in 2013 and it
tells the story of Solomon Northup a free black man until he was captured and sold as a slave.
The film while narrating the story of Solomon Northup also highlights the conditions of the
slaves and the slave trade scenario during the nineteenth century. The film is based on the
memoir of Solomon Northup, a black man who was born during the 19th century, although he
was born as a free man, he was kidnapped and sold as a slave and was sent to New Orleans to
work in the plantations. The story proceeds with his various experiences with his masters and the
plight of the other slaves as seen through his eyes, leading up to the discovery of his true identity
as a free black man and returning to his family after 12 years.
In the story, Solomon is sold to a plantation owner named William Ford where he beats
up a white supervisor and thus is resold again to another man named Edwin Epps to save his life
(Brown, Anthony and Davis). There he meets Patsy who is very efficient in her work and picks
500 pounds of cotton daily but still she is raped and abused daily. The plight of the slaves shown
in the films is true in the historical context. The slaves were treated as the properties of their
masters any they could do whatever they wanted with the slaves (Coupland). One of the worst
parts of African American history comprises of the period of slave trade, which was followed
throughout the country. The slaves were mostly valuable to the white masters who had cotton
plantations in the southern part of America.
The African people were kidnapped from their homeland and they were sold in America
at good prices to the plantation owners. Slavery was not a new thing for the Africans the practice
started long back when the European traders landed in various parts of Africa and brought them
to their countries to work as slaves. The slaves were transported through the sea route and while
on the voyage, many of them perished at the seas unable to withstand the harsh climate and

2HISTORY ESSAY
diseases. The slaves who stayed alive were brought into the markets where the plantation
workers brought them to work for them (Tindall, Brown and David). The African people lost
their cultures and way of life when they were brought into the new world and here they were
subjected to worst of their fates. Some of the owners were lenient like William Ford was shown
in the movie, but they were too afraid to take any steps in fear of the loss of their own business
and the law of the land.
The plantation business in America was built completely depending on slaves (Curtin).
Crops like tobacco, which was grown in Virginia, rice crops, and indigo was grown in Carolinas,
The southern states were famous for cotton, sugar and mahogany were found in the Caribbean
and Brazil which helped the plantation owners to earn huge amounts of money and become rich.
The African people who were brought from their homeland brought with them the knowledge of
growing crops and these helped when they worked in the fields (Stevenson). The knowledge
brought by the slaves helped to grow crops in huge amounts in North America. By the year 1807,
the annual value of each estate became £4,000 (which is £400,000 in value today) for almost all
of the sugar planters. The enslaved Africans paid the cost in an extreme way whose as the
conditions under which they worked was horrendous (Manning). In Brazil as well as in other
estates growing sugarcanes in America no such attempts were made to ease the lives of the
slaves and to make their working conditions comfortable. The slaves were forced to work under
such severe conditions that they had to renew the labour forces died while working under such
severe conditions each year as the slaves had to be re-purchased due to the high death rates of the
slaves, as they worked until their death literally.

3HISTORY ESSAY
To conclude it can be said that the films 12 Years a Slave in a quite realistic manner and
thus portrays a real picture of the slave trade which was popular during the 1800s. The film does
not contain any contemporary message but it does tell the story to the slaves belonging to that
century and captures the true plight of their condition.

4HISTORY ESSAY
Reference List:
Brown, Anthony L., and Christopher Davis. "Race and Historical Memory on the Silver Screen:
A Movie Review of 12 Years a Slave." Theory & Research in Social Education 42.2 (2014):
275-279.
Coupland, Reginald. The exploitation of East Africa, 1856-1890: The slave trade and the
scramble. Pickle Partners Publishing, 2017.
Curtin, Philip D. "The Atlantic slave trade 1600-1800." History of West Africa 1 (1971): 240-68.
Manning, Patrick, ed. Slave trades, 1500–1800: Globalization of forced labour. Routledge, 2016.
Stevenson, Brenda E. "12 Years a Slave: Narrative, History, and Film." Journal of African
American History 99.1-2 (2014): 106-118.
Tindall, George Brown, and David E. Shi. America: A narrative history. WW Norton &
Company, 2016.