#2 years a slave edwin epps role free

If Patsey died of disease, fatigue, or abuse before 1864, there’d be no record of it. Using all these factors as a guide, it’s safe to estimate that she was born around 1830 in South Carolina. Deducing from the general ages of the other slaves on Epps’s farm within Northup’s text, Patsey appears as the entry for a black female, aged 19, in Epps’s 1850 Slave Schedule. Regardless, no names were included with each slave entry, and ages were often approximated. Census records only separate slaves by gender and catalogue them within age-group intervals of five to 10 years, but in 18 there were separate Slave Schedule census records taken. Northup’s book cites Patsey as being 23 years old, though his proclamation of that age could’ve occurred any time during his 10 years with her, making it a sliding scale (most likely, he was referring to her age when he left her in 1853). How can it be this hard to find one woman? The question seems as deceptively simple as Patsey’s, but the difficulty in answering proves emblematic of the lost histories of many slaves. The investigation has unearthed two new theories for every one posed, protruding from the murk of research like so many cypress knees lining Louisiana’s bayous. I hand-cranked microfiche machines until my wrist was so stiff I couldn’t move it. I drove through towns with a Louisiana-history picture book on my lap in an attempt to match the old and new. I practically went cross-eyed after days of squinting at vital records recorded in miniscule cursive writing I pulled archival books as heavy as small children from high shelves in cavernous, dusty warehouses I almost hydroplaned into ditches while exploring unpaved backroads during rainstorms. I’ve spoken with experts in the fields of genealogy and historical research, consulted professors, archivists and historians, even traveled to the town in Louisiana where Epps’s plantation, once stood-all in an attempt to track Patsey’s life after Northup’s departure in 1853. I have scoured annotated versions of Northup’s text, census records, court documents, online genealogy databases, libraries, and newspapers from the era.

What became of this girl, Northup’s close acquaintance and one of the major figures in his book, who was terrorized by her master and mistress? Did she succumb to one of the bouts of disease that swept the Louisiana-bayou slave communities? Did Epps’s severe beatings or his wife’s unhinged jealousy take their toll, or did he perhaps sell her some time after 1853? Was she secreted away by members of the Underground Railroad? Did she survive until emancipation rolled through the area via the Red River Campaign in 1864, then travel elsewhere? Or did she remain in Louisiana?įor more than two months, I have considered these possibilities and more, in an attempt to respond to Patsey’s plea.

Yet Patsey’s haunting question, “What’ll become of me?”, remains unanswered. Last year's big-screen adaptation of his narrative, 12 Years a Slave, is currently nominated for nine Academy Awards-including a best supporting actress nod for the woman who plays Patsey, Lupita Nyong’o. One hundred sixty-one years later, Northup's account of his kidnapping and time as a slave on Edwin Epps's Louisiana plantation has been authenticated by scholars with annotated versions of Northup’s book, supplemental textbooks and articles detailing his life.

#2 years a slave edwin epps role free

When a free black man named Solomon Northup was rescued from 12 years of bondage in January of 1853, a fellow slave, a young woman named Patsey, called after him tearfully.