Northup begins his journey with Brown and Hamilton feeling “happy as [he] had ever been” (p. 13) and ends the journey to New Orleans with his “cup of sorrow … full to overflowing (p.46).
There must have been some misapprehension—some unfortunate mistake. It could not be that a free citizen of New-York, who had wronged no man, nor violated any law, should be dealt with thus inhumanly. The more I contemplated my situation, however, the more I became confirmed in my suspicions. It was a desolate thought, indeed. I felt there was no trust or mercy in unfeeling man; and commending myself to the God of the oppressed, bowed my head upon my fettered hands, and wept most bitterly.
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Twelve Years a Slave
