Teaching with
Getting Started with this Toolkit
Below you will find useful summaries, links, and additional resources to help you navigate "Teaching with 12 Years a Slave" in your classroom.
12 Years a Slave: A Summary
Based on Solomon Northup’s incredible life story and autobiography, the film 12 Years a Slave portrays how a middle-class free black man is kidnapped and enslaved. Solomon Northup, a talented violinist from Saratoga Springs, New York, travels to Washington D.C. for a job offer, only to wake up to find himself in chains. Renamed “Platt,” Northup is sold into slavery in New Orleans. Through his eyes we see the horrific and dehumanizing treatment of enslaved men and women. Northup is first sold to plantation owner William Ford, a Christian man who appreciates Northup’s hard work. Northup comes to respect Ford, but this relationship is short-lived and Northup finds his life in danger when he stands up to Tibeats, the plantation slave handler. Ford briefly protects Northup but sells him to Edwin Epps, a brutal cotton plantation owner who views enslaved people as property whose labor brings him profit.
This film attempts to illustrate what life was like for enslaved men and women on plantations in the South and to show the ways enslaved people, like Solomon, found the strength and means to survive. After other failed attempts at achieving his freedom, Northup requests the help of Canadian laborer Samuel Bass to send a letter on his behalf to acquaintances who can prove he is a free man. After twelve years as an enslaved man, Solomon Northup is finally freed and returns to Saratoga Springs to be reunited with his family.
Character List
For a thorough description of the characters, please go to the site listed below. This site provides a list of characters from the autobiography Twelve Years a Slave. While the movie is slightly different, this site will still provide adequate background for the characters if necessary.
Teaching Difficult History
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This toolkit acknowledges that teaching about the history of racial injustice is difficult and sometimes uncomfortable. However, confronting the legacy of racial injustice should begin with open, honest, and reflective discussions of slavery in the classroom. The following resources provide teachers with previously developed resources for teaching difficult history in the classroom.
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Additional resources:
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Before getting started, we recommend reviewing this statement from Facing History and Ourselves on teaching difficult knowledge: “You know your students best. Preview the resources in each lesson before you share them with students, and let them know in advance when they are about to encounter material they may find upsetting. If necessary, omit resources that you believe will be too disturbing.”
Advisory Statement
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12 Years a Slave is rated R and contains graphic depictions of violence, abhorrent language, as well as some nudity and brief sexuality. When selecting clips, we have kept in mind the content shown, and we have noted which clips in our lesson plans have depictions of violence or offensive language. Consider checking with your administration regarding the school’s and district’s film policies before showing clips or the entirety of the movie.
If you need to obtain family consent, please refer to the following resources:
Language Matters
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Troubling assumptions about race have been embedded in language and normalized for centuries. New ways of describing the experiences of enslaved people throughout North and South America have emerged to give enslaved people primary agency and to complicate these assumptions.
For suggestions on how to talk about the difficult history of slavery, please visit Professor Gabrielle Forman's community sourced document, Writing About Slavery? Teaching About Slavery?
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