January 1841
Solomon Northup, a free Black man from Saratoga Springs, NY, is drugged and kidnapped by slave traders in Washington, DC in April 1841 and sold to Louisiana planters. He endures 12 years of enslavement — witnessing vicious floggings, sexual violence, and worked near to death on Red River cotton plantations. His 1853 memoir documents specific atrocities in granular detail.
Former President John Quincy Adams argues the Amistad Africans' case before the US Supreme Court for eight hours over two days in February–March 1841. The Court rules 7-1 that the Africans were free people illegally kidnapped, not property, and must be freed. Thirty-five survivors return to Sierra Leone in 1842. The case becomes a landmark in antislavery litigation.
Events
- January 1841Amistad Africans Win Freedom at the Supreme Court
Former President John Quincy Adams argues the Amistad Africans' case before the US Supreme Court for eight hours over two days in February–March 1841. The Court rules 7-1 that the Africans were free people illegally kidnapped, not property, and must be freed. Thirty-five survivors return to Sierra Leone in 1842. The case becomes a landmark in antislavery litigation.
- January 1841Solomon Northup Kidnapped into Slavery
Solomon Northup, a free Black man from Saratoga Springs, NY, is drugged and kidnapped by slave traders in Washington, DC in April 1841 and sold to Louisiana planters. He endures 12 years of enslavement — witnessing vicious floggings, sexual violence, and worked near to death on Red River cotton plantations. His 1853 memoir documents specific atrocities in granular detail.
- January 1841Solomon Northup Kidnapped into Slavery
Solomon Northup, a free Black man from Saratoga Springs, NY, is drugged and kidnapped by slave traders in Washington, DC in April 1841 and sold to Louisiana planters. He endures 12 years of enslavement, witnessing vicious floggings, sexual violence, and worked near to death on Red River cotton plantations. His 1853 memoir documents specific atrocities with granular detail.