<P> 12 Years a Slave is a 2013 period drama film and an adaptation of the 1853 slave narrative memoir Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup , a New York State - born free African - American man who was kidnapped in Washington , D.C. by two conmen in 1841 and sold into slavery . Northup was put to work on plantations in the state of Louisiana for 12 years before being released . The first scholarly edition of Northup 's memoir , co-edited in 1968 by Sue Eakin and Joseph Logsdon , carefully retraced and validated the account and concluded it to be accurate . Other characters in the film were also real people , including Edwin and Mary Epps , and Patsey . </P>
<P> 12 Years a Slave is a 2013 period drama film and an adaptation of the 1853 slave narrative memoir Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup , a New York State - born free African - American man who was kidnapped in Washington , D.C. by two conmen in 1841 and sold into slavery . Northup was put to work on plantations in the state of Louisiana for 12 years before being released . The first scholarly edition of Northup 's memoir , co-edited in 1968 by Sue Eakin and Joseph Logsdon , carefully retraced and validated the account and concluded it to be accurate . Other characters in the film were also real people , including Edwin and Mary Epps , and Patsey . </P>
who was 12 years a slave based on
who was 12 years a slave based on
Solomon Northup , a New York State - born free African - American man who was kidnapped in Washington , D.C. by two conmen in 1841 and sold into slavery
Solomon Northup , a New York State - born free African - American man who was kidnapped in Washington , D.C. by two conmen in 1841 and sold into slavery