The film has received much early critical acclaim, and rightfully so. and sold as a slave in Louisiana, is the focus of the new film 12 Years a Slave, directed by British filmmaker Steve McQueen and based on Northup’s 1853 published autobiographical account. The customs agents were required to sign these manifests.The ordeal of Solomon Northup, a free man of color from New York who was kidnapped in Washington, D.C. Two copies of these manifests were required, one would be filed with the customs agent at the port of departure, and the other manifest would be filed at the port of arrival. In addition, slave manifests required the names of the slave owners or shippers and their residence, plus the names of the individuals the slaves were consigned to if necessary. Slave manifests were required by law for each ship transporting slaves and needed to include every slave's name, sex, height, and complexion or class. With the rise of cotton as a southern commodity, thousands of enslaved people were shipped from the upper south to the lower south regularly from 1808–1860. The domestic slave trade, however, remained legal. It had became illegal to import slaves from other countries to the United States in 1808. Years later, after he regained his freedom, he told his life story in his autobiography Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841 and Rescued in 1853, from a Cotton Plantation Near the Red River in Louisiana. A free person of color in New York, Northup had been kidnapped and sold into slavery he was given the name Plat Hamilton aboard the ship. Among them was Solomon Northup, who was listed as Plat Hamilton on line 33. This manifest shows 41 enslaved people who were shipped to New Orleans, Louisiana, from Richmond, Virginia. I informed him that was not my name that I had never been called by it, but that I had no objection to it as I knew of. Why don't you come forward?" he demanded of me, in an angry tone. "Your name is Platt-you answer my description. "Who shipped him?" he again inquired of the captain, pointing to me. The captain was unable to inform him, no one being, on board answering to that name. "Captain, where's Platt?" demanded Theophilus Freeman. Then Lethe was called, then Eliza, then Harry, until the list was finished, each one stepping forward as his or her name was called. The name was called again and again, but still there was no reply. Reading from his paper, he called, "Platt." No one answered. Burch's gang, consisting of myself, Eliza and her children, Harry, Lethe, and some others, who had joined us at Richmond, were consigned to him. One, a tall, thin-faced man, with light complexion and a little bent, made his appearance, with a paper in his hand. Very soon traders and consignees came on board. I felt of my pockets, so far as the fetters would allow-far enough, indeed, to ascertain that I had not only been robbed of liberty, but that my money and free papers were also gone! Then did the idea begin to break upon my mind, at first dim and confused, that I had been kidnapped. I spoke aloud, but the sound of my voice startled me. I listened intently for some sign or sound of life, but nothing broke the oppressive silence, save the clinking of my chains, whenever I chanced to move. There was a blank of some indefinite period, preceding my awakening in that lonely place, the events of which the utmost stretch of memory was unable to recall. Where was I? What was the meaning of these chains?.What had I done to deserve imprisonment in such a dungeon? I could not comprehend. Waking from such a painful trance, it was some time before I could collect my thoughts. One end of a chain was fastened to a large ring in the floor, the other to the fetters on my ankles. Around my ankles also were a pair of heavy fetters. I was sitting upon a low bench, made of rough boards, and without coat or hat. The pain in my head had subsided in a measure, but I was very faint and weak.
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