Solomon Northup, a free African American man, was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Washington, D.C.
After being kidnapped, Northup was sold into slavery in Louisiana where he worked on plantations for 12 years.
With the help of a white carpenter and his friends, Solomon Northup was able to send a letter north and was eventually freed from slavery.
'Twelve Years a Slave,' Solomon Northup's memoir detailing his experience of being kidnapped and enslaved, was published and became a significant abolitionist literature.