Alright now!

You'all gonna be cutting game.

Very simple !
I want you to take your knife...
lift 'em cane;
make 'em stick.
Take the cane off.
Cut my tops..
clean the stalks off.
Throw it on the pile... for replanting again.
Now...them cane ain't gonna bite you.
Don't shy 'bout it.
Rushy boys , rushy !
Alright, alright...alright.
Come on.
Get in there, boy .
Come on.
Give me a kiss .
I love you .
- I love you too, Dad .
Sleep well.
I'll take this.
I don't wanna hear anymore noise.
Good night .
Three weeks and two days.
It is the custom.
I wonder what you'll do without me?
I won't stay idle.
Darling, it's good money.
If only I didn't have to share your cooking
with other people.
You don't.
Come on.
Be good for your mother.
Ok , Alonzo ?
Can I get a kiss, please?
Thank you.
Travel safely, love.
- Stay safely.
Ready.
Good afternoon, Mr. Nortap .
- Good day .
Call the Devil's name...
There he is now.
Mr. Northup...! I have two gentlemen
acquaintance you should make.
Messrs. Brown and Hamilton.
Sir .
Mr. Northup, these two gentlemen were inquiring about
distinguished individuals,

and I was just this very moment saying

Solomon Northup;
is an expert player on the violin.
- He was indeed.
Mr. Moon is being overly gracious.
Taking into consideration
his graciousness and your modesty,
may we trouble you for a moment
of your time to converse, sir?
Of course.
Sir .
A circus?
- That is our usual employee.
The company currently in the city of Washington.
Circus too constricting
a word to describe the...
talented and merry band
with which we travel.
It is a spectacle unlike most
have ever witnessed.
Creatures from the darkest Africa
as yet unseen by civilized man.
Acrobats from the Orient contorting themselves
in the most confounding manners.
And I myself in aide of Mr. Brown;
an internationally renowned practitioner
...in the art of prestidigitation.
We are on our way thither
to rejoin the company...
having left for a short time to make
a small profit from our own exhibitions.
-The reason for our inquiry with Mr. Moon...
- Yes. We had just a devil of a time in procuring
music for our entertainments.
Men of true talent seemingly in short supply.
- Thank you sir...
If we could persuade you to accompany us
as far as Washington...
We would give you one dollar
for each day's service'
and three dollars for every night
played at our performances.
In addition, we would provide sufficient pay
for the expenses of your return here to Saratoga.
Two weeks from today.
Welcome to Washington, Solomon.
Thank you .
Good Day.
I'm telling you it's too much .
- Some would say that's enough .

Solomon ...
Forty-three dollars.
All to you.
That...it's far more than my wages amount to.
To our most profitable week.
- Cheers !
Cheers !
- Cheers !
Another round.
Umm...
Your generosity ...
is ...extraordinary.
- And your talents are undeniable.
To Solomon !
- Cheers.
Cheers.
What the ... ?
That's all right Solomon.
No shame in it.
No shame at all.
Hamilton, we have to hurry .
Bought too many libation.
I'm so sorry .
- Shh...shh
We won't hear it.
We won't.
Let him sleep, Hamilton.
- Hm ...
A good night's rest.
And tomorrow...
Tomorrow, tomorrow you will feel
as well and refreshed..
as though the earth were new again.
Hamilton! There's nothing more
we can do for him.
Such is the pity.
Well, my boy,
how yah feel now?
My name...
My name is Solomon Northup.
I am a free man .
a resident of Saratoga, New York.
The residence also of my wife and children
who are equally free.
and you have no right
whatsoever to detain me-Yah not any free man .
- And I promise you
- I promise you upon my liberation
I will have satisfaction for this wrong.

Resolve this.
Produce your papers.
Yah no free man.
And yah ain't from Saratoga.
Yah from Georgia.
Yah ain't a free man.
Yah nuthin' but a Georgia runaway.
Yah a just a..
runaway nigger from Georgia.
You're a slave !
Yah a Georgia slave!
Are yah slave?
No.
Help me !
Help me !
Somebody help me !
That old thing of yours is just
rags and tatters.
Need something proper to wear.
Go'on. Put it on.
There ...
Tha's fine.
Tha's fine.
Got no gratitude?
No! It was from my wife.
- Rags and tatters.
Rags and tatters.
Go on. Warsh up.
The boy, too.
Get him clean.
Scrub now.
Do you know when my Mama will come?
Hush him up!
- Mama! Mama !
Quiet! Quiet.
- Mama!
Quiet! - Hush him up!
- Mama!
Your mother will come, I swear she will,
but you must be silent.
Be silent!
We need a sympathetic ear.
An opportunity to explain our situation-Who in your estimation is that sympathetic ear?
- The two men I journeyed with.
I'm certain they're making inquires
at this very moment.
I would be just as certain they are counting the money
paid for delivering you to this place.
They were not kidnappers.

They were artists.

Fellow performers.
- You know that ?
You know for certain who they were?
The reality to come is us
being transported southward.
New Orleans if I were to venture.
After we arrive, we'll be put to market.
And beyond that...
Well, once in a slave state
I suppose there's only one outcome.
No.
- I don't say that to give you empty agitation, John...
For y'all. For y'all they ain't nothin' but that!
But John was'n kidnapped.
John bein' hold as debt, tha's all.
Massa pay his debt,
and John be redeemed-Boy, our masters will not come for us.
- Now John's...John's sorry for y'all,
but tha's how it be.
Where y'all goin', yah goin' witout John.
Mama !
- Randall.
Mama !
Are you alright?
Come on, get up !
I said get up !
- No, no ...
Now, I don't want to hear yer talk.
Get in the yard.
No, I'm not sure...
- Ain't no need for all that.
Just go on a short trip ,
That's all .
Don't want to frighten the children
none over a li'l boat ride, do yah?
John's massa gunna pay his debt.
John's massa gunna come for him.
I do not want to hear a word ,
out of none a yah.
Not a word.
No!
Okay , let's go!
Come on!
Come on child, come on.
Come on, move it !
Come on, come on!
Up, up the stairs.
Hit it !

Come on, let's go.

Get up !
Come on , move it !
Okay , let's go!
- Move it boy !
Take him down!
Hey, you ! Come on, get up!
Get down, right there .
Come on.
Right there.
Sit down.
Cheer up and don't be so cast down.
If you want to survive,
do and say as little as possible.
Tell no one who you really are
and tell no one that you can read and write.
Unless you want to be a dead nigger.
Now, keep your mouth shut.
I say we fight.
The crew is fairly small.
If it were well planned,
I believe they could be strong armed.
Three cant stand against a whole crew.
The rest here are niggers,
born and bred slaves.
Niggers aint got the stomach for a fight.
Not a damn one.
- All I know,
where we keep travelling
well wish wed died trying.
- Survival is not about certain death,
it is about keeping your head down.
Days ago I was with my family,
In my home.
Now you tell me all is lost.
Tell no one who I really am
if I want to survive.
Well ,I dont want to survive,
I want to live.
Better off.
Better than us.
I do not see it .
Clemens !
Clemens Ray!
Master Ray, sir!
Who 's in charge here ?
- I'm the captain !
I am Mr. Jonas Ray.
My solicitor has documentation verifying..
that the Negro named

Clemens Ray is my property.

I know nothing of this arrangement.
You are ordered by court to return that property
immediately or be charged with thievery.
Free him!
Master!
Clemens ?
Clemens !
Get back !
- Clemens !
Clemens !
Clemens !
Mr. Parker?
Oh , Mr. Northup.
Mrs. Northup. Mr. Solomon,
can i interest you with a new cravat?
Pure silk by way of the French.
- We are in need of a fresh carry all..
for the Mrs's travels. Nothing more.
A year's passed?
Off to Sandy Hill?
Yes , I am.
- I have just the thing for you .
Something to suit your style,
but sturdy enough for the forty miles round trip.
It's beautiful.
- But at what price ?
We will take it.
Children, come see what your father
has just purchased for me.
One moment, sir
and you will be assisted.
Mr. Parker ?
- Sir?
If we can talk about the price ...
- If we could discuss the price; Forgive me, Mrs. Northup.
A customer waits.
Welcome, sir.
Shop well, but mind your wallet.
Ignore the gentleman's nonsense.
- Jasper!
My regrets for the intrusion, sir .
- No intrusion.
Good day, sir.
-Good day.
Jasper , out!
Very good.
Let's see here ...
Eliza!
Stand up when you hear your name .

Eliza ?
Lethe!
John!
Oren.
Platt!
Platt?
Stand up.
You fit the description given.
Why didn't you answer when called?
- My name is not Platt.
My name is-Your name is Platt.
Captain, get these niggers
to my carts .
I believe I have something that will
you just like the room behind .
Follow me, please.
Yes.
Now...
Inspect them at your leisure, but ...
I ask you to pay particular regard
to young Ezra right here .
Incredibly solid limbs !
I've never seen anything quite like him.
And this marvelous creature ...
Can you believe it? Hm ?
So , inspect at your leisure,
Take your time.
Help yourself to refreshments .
Gentlemen , what catches your fancy here?
Hm ... ? This boy ?
Open your mouth .
Open, wide up!
Look in there.
Never been sick, a day in his life.
ah, Mr. Ford?
Splendid, seeing you, sir.
What catches your fancy?
How much for the ones Platt and Eliza?
- Ah, I see ...
A thousand for Platt;
he is a nigger of considerable talent.
I assure you.
Seven hundred for Eliza.
My fairest price.
- Hm ...
You will accept a note?
- As always, from you, Mr. Ford.
Please, sir...
Please don't divide my family.

Don't take me unless you take

my children as well.
Eliza, quiet!
- You will have the most faithful slave in me,
The most faithful slave that has ever lived,
but I beg that you do not separate us. .
Please!
- Stop it!
Come forward. Come, come..come.
You see how fit the boy is.
Like ripe fruit.
May i take your stick,
for a moment?
Observe this, Randall?
Jump, jump, jump...!
Very good !
Higher!
He will grow into a fine beast.
How much?
- Six hundred for the boy,
fair and final.
Done.
A moment, please.
Mr. Ford ?
- Please.
Eliza !
- How much for the little girl?
You have no need for her.
One so young will bring you no profit.
No, no and no .
I cannot sell the girl.
There's heaps 'n piles of money to be made off her.
She is a beauty.
One of the regular bloods.
None of your thick-lipped, bullet headed,
cotton picking niggers.
Her child, man.
For God's sake,
are you not sentimental in the least?
My sentimentality extends
the length of a coin.
Do you want the lot, Mr. Ford,
or do you pass on them all?
Please, please ...
I will take the ones Platt and Eliza.
I will not go without my children.
You will not take them from me.
No, no, no ...!
Did you bring all those niggers?
Two of them?

You got two?

- Mr. Chapin-This one's cryin'.
Why is this one cryin'?
Separated from her children.
- Oh, dear ...
It couldn't be helped.
-Poor, poor woman.
Mr. Chapin,
- Yes , sir .
tomorrow you will take these two up
to the mill and start them workin'.
For now make them adequate;
fix them a meal, and have them rest themselves.
Yes, sir .
C'mon, now. C'mon.
Don't dawdle.
Something to eat and some rest;
your children will soon enough be forgotten.
For all of you rotten niggers that
do not know, My name is John Tibeats,
William Ford's chief carpenter.
You will refer to me as Master.
Now, Mister Chapin is the overseer on
this plantation.
... and You too will refer to him...
as Master.
So, clap your hands.
Like this.
Come on.
Come on now .
Clap your hands.
Nigger run nigger flew
Nigger tore his shirt in two.
Run run the pattyroller will get you.
Run nigger run well you better get away
That's right.
Nigger run, run so fast
Stoved his head in a hornets nest
Run nigger run well the pattyroller will get you
Run nigger run well you better get away
Run nigger run well the pattyroller will get you
Run nigger run well you better get away
Some folks say a nigger won't steal
I caught three in my corn field
One has a bushel? And one has a peck
One had a rope and it was hung around his neck
Run nigger run well the pattyroller will get you
Run nigger run well you better get away
Run nigger run well the pattyroller will get you

Run nigger run well you better get away

Hey Mr. Pattyroller don't catch me
Catch that nigger behind that tree
Run nigger run well the pattyroller will get you?
Run nigger run well you better get away
Run nigger run well the pattyroller will get you?
Run nigger run well you better get away
I am the God of Abraham,
and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
And when the multitude heard this,
they were astonished at his doctrine.
Then one of them, which was a lawyer,
asked him a question,
tempting him,
The creek is plenty deep enough to sail,
even with a boat full of load.
The distance from the WORK AREA
to the point on the latter bayou
... is several miles by water fewer than land.
It occurs to me that the expense
of the transportation would be materially diminished-"Materially diminished?"
- If we use the waterway.
Are you an engineer or a nigger?
Are you an engineer or nigger?
Let the man say his piece.
- It's a scheme.
Plenty of engineers have schemed similarly.
The passes are too tight.
I reckon them at more than
twelve feet at their most narrow.
Wide enough for a tub to traverse.
A team of niggers can clear it out.
And you know what of transport and terra formin'?
I labored repairing the Champlain canal,
on the section over which
William Van Nortwick was superintendent.
With my earnings I hired several
efficient hands to assist me,
...and I entered into contracts for the transportation
of large rafts of timber from..
Lake Champlain to Troy.
I'll admit to being impressed even if you won't.
Collect a team, see what good you can do.
Well, I'm happy .
You are a model.
What took you so long ?
Thank you, Master Ford .
- No, thank you .
Yeah !

Hello, Mr. Platt .

My great thanks, Master Ford.
My thanks to you,
and it is the least of it.
My hope is that it brings us both
much joy over the years.
Eliza.
Eliza.
Stop!
Stop your wailing!
You let yourself be overcome by sorrow.
You will drown in it.
Have you stopped crying for your children?
You make no sounds,
but will you ever let them go in your heart?
...They are as my flesh...
- Then who is distressed?
Do I upset the Master and the Mistress?
Do you care less for my loss
than their well being?
Master Ford is a decent man.
- He is a slaver!
Under the circumstances-- Under the circumstances he is a slaver!
But you truckle at his boot-- No.
You luxuriate in his favor.
- I survive!
I will not fall into despair!
I will offer up my talents to Master Ford.
I will keep myself hearty until freedom is opportune!
- Ford is your opportunity.
Do you think he does not know that
you are more than you suggest?
But he does nothing for you.
Nothing.
You are no better than prized livestock.
Call for him. Call, tell him of your previous
circumstances;
and see what it earns you...Solomon.
So, youve settled into your role
as Platt, then?
My back is thick with scars from..
protesting my freedom.
Do not accuse me..
- I accuse you of nothing.
I cannot accuse.
I have done so many,
many dishonorable things to survive.
And for all of them I have ended up here...

No better than if I had stood up for myself.

God forgive me .
Solomon, let me weep for my children.
Who so ever yherefore, shall humbles himself ,
as this little child,
the same is greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
And whoso shall receive...
one such little child in my name
receiveth me.
I cannot have that kind of depression about.
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones
which believe in me, it were better for him
that a millstone were hanged about his neck,
and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
Amen.
- AMEN !
Make them boards flush.
They are, sir.
- No, They is no such thing.
As smooth to the touch as a yearling's coat.
Callin' me a liar, boy?
Only a matter of perspective, sir.
From where you stand you may see differently.
But the hands are not mistaken.
I simply ask that you use all your senses
before rendering judgement.
Oh ... my ...You are a brute.
You are a dog,
and no better for followin' instruction.
I'll do as ordered, sir.
- Then you'll be up at daybreak.
You will procure
a keg of nails from Chapin;
...and commence puttin' on clapboards.
- Yes, sir .
Make them boards flush.
Where am i going, sir?
Solomon!
Solomon!
Solomon!
Solomon!
When I say I had my master's favor,
you understand.
And for nine years
he blessed me with every comfort and luxury in life.
Silks and jewels and even...
servants to wait upon us.
Such was our life,
and the life of this beautiful girl I bore for him.
But Master Berry's daughter...

she always looked at me with an unkind nature.

She hated Emily no matter she and Emily
were flesh of flesh.
As Master Berry's health failed,
she gained power in the household and;
Eventually, I was brought to the city
on the false pretense...
of our free papers being executed.
My poor children .
I thought I told you to commence
puttin' on clapboards.
Yes, master.
I am about it. These have all been replaced.
Didn't I tell yah last night to get a keg of nails?
And so I did;
Goddamn you!
I thought you knowed somethin'!
I did as instructed.
If there's something wrong,
then its wrong with your instructions.
You, black bastard!
You ...
Goddamn ...
black bastard!
Strip yer clothes!
Strip!
I will not!
You ...
Yew will not live..
to see another day, nigger!
God, help!
Monster!
Help! Somebody help me !
Help!
Help! Somebody
Help!
Help me !
What is the matter?
What is the matter?
-Master..
Master Tibeats wants to whip me
for using the nails you gave me.
This ain't done by half.
I will have flesh,
and I will have all of it.
Do not stir.
Do not attempt to leave the plantation.
But if you run there is no protecting you.
Stay here .
Gentlemen ? Whoever moves that

nigger is adead man .

I am overseer of this plantation,
William Ford holds a mortgage on Platt.
If you hang him, he loses his debt.
You have no claim to his life.
As for you two ...
if you have any regard for your own safety...
I say, begone!
You got no cause.
Platt is mine, and mine to do
with as I please.
If you touch him..
Sam! Get the mule.
Get Master Ford.
I believe Tibeats is skulkin' about the premises somewhere.
He wants you dead,
and he will attempt to have you so.
It's no longer safe for you here.
And I don't believe you will remain
passive if Tibeats attacks.
I have transferred my debt to Edwin Epps.
He will take charge of you.
Master Ford ?
you must know that I am not a slave.
I cannot hear that.
- Before, I came to you I was a freeman.
I am trying to save your life!
And...I have a debt to be mindful of.
That, now, is to Edwin Epps.
He is a hard man.
Prides himself on being a "nigger breaker."
But truthfully, I could find no others
who would have you.
You've made a reputation of yourself.
Whatever your circumstances,
you are an exceptional nigger, Platt.
I fear no good will come of it.
"And that servant..
which knew his Lord's will...
WHICH KNEW HIS LORD'S WILL;
and prepared not himself...
PREPARED NOT HIMSELF,
neither did according to his will,
shall be beaten with many stripes...
D'ye hear that?
"Stripes."
That nigger that don't obey his lord that's his master - d'ye see?
- that 'ere nigger shall be beaten
with many stripes.

Now, "many" signifies a great many.

Forty, a hundred,
a hundred and fifty lashes...
That's Scripter!
Pick that cotton.
Move along now!
Come on now!
Drive dem niggers.
- Pick that cotton.
Move along now,
hear?
Come on!
Two hundred forty pounds for Bob.
What yah got for James?
Two hundred ninety five pounds.
Tha's real good, boy.
Tha's real good.
One hundred eighty two pounds for Platt.
How much can even
an average nigger pick a day?
Two hundred pounds.
- This nigger ain't even average.
Five hundred twelve pounds for Patsey.
Five hundred twelve.
Yah men folk got no shame
lettin' Patsey out pick yah?
The day ain't yet come
she swung lower than five hundred pounds.
Queen of the fields, she is.
- I ain't done, Treach.
Ain't I owed a minute to luxuriate
on the work Patsey done?
Yes, sir .
Damned Queen.
Born and bred to the field.
A nigger among niggers,
and God give 'er to me.
A lesson in the rewards of righteous livin'.
All be observant ta that.
All!
Now, Treach.
Now speak.
One hundred thirty eight pounds for Phebe.
Hit one forty five yesterday.
Pull her out.
Two hundred six pounds for George.
How much he pick yesterday?
Two twenty nine.
- Not enought.
Come on, kid .

Come on.
- Come on, boy, move!
Get up ! Tonight we dance !
Get up !
Bring your fiddle, Platt !
Go!
Come on!
Come on, Platt!
Come on!
Come on! Where's yah merriment?
Move yer feet.
Sell her!
- What's all this?
You will sell the negress!
Sell little Pats?
She pick with more vigor
than any other nigger!
Choose another ta go.
- No other.
Sell her!
I will not!
You will remove that black bitch from this property,
'er I'll take myself back to Cheneyville.
Back to that hog's trough
where I found you?
Do not set yourself up against Patsey, my dear.
'Cause I will rid myself of yah well
before I do away with her!
Whatcha looking at?
That damned woman!
I won't have my mood spoiled.
I will not.
Dance!
Dance, i said!
Come on!
Pick it up, Platt.
Play that thing, boy !
Platt?
Yes, Mistress .
Can you find your way
to Bartholomew's?
I can, ma'am.
This is a list of goods and sundries.
You will take it to be filled and return immediately.
Take your tag.
Tell Bartholomew to add it to our debt.
- Yes, Mistress.
Where yah from, Platt?
I have told you.
- Tell me again .

Washington .
- Who were yah Master?
Master's name was Freeman .
- Was he a learned man?
I suppose so.
- He learn yah ta read?
A word here or there,
but I have no understanding of the written text.
- Don't trouble yer self with it.
Same as the rest, Master bought yah to work.
Tha's all.
And any more'll earn yah a hun'red lashes.
Come here, boy .
Come on.
Where are you going, boy ?
- On my way to...
Bartholomew...
Sent by Mistress Epps.
You best get to then.
Get that quick.
Any trouble?
-No, ma'am.
No trouble.
Platt Epps, good Sunday morning.
- Good morning, Master Shaw.
I've been sent by Master to retrieve Patsey.
May I approach?
You may.
Excuse me, Mistress Shaw.
Nigger Platt.
- Patsey, Master wishes you to return.
Sabbath day.
I's free ta roam.
But the Master sent me running to fetch you,
and said no time should be wasted.
Do you drink tea?
- Thank you, Mistress, but I don't dare.
Would you knowed Massa Epps's consternation
to be any lessened wit your timely return?
Is not it his constant condition?
Sit. Sit and drink the tea that offered.
What'n was Epps's concern?
...I'd rather not say...
L'il gossip on the Sabbath be fine.
All things in moderation.
As you are aware, Master Epps...
can be a man of a hard countenance.
You know he has ill feelings toward your husband.
He do.
Master Epps has somehow come to believe,

that Master Shaw is...

is something of a lothario.
A misguided belief, no doubt.
No doubt...
if not born outta truth itself.
I meant no disrespect.
He ain't heard you.
I meant no disrespect to you, Mistress.
Ha! Got no cause to worry for my sensibilities.
I ain't felt the end of a lash in
'mo years than I cain recall.
Ain't worked a field, neither.
Where one time I served,
now I got others servin' me.
The cost to my current
existence be Massa Shaw..
broadcasting his affections,
'n me enjoyin' his pantomime of fidelity.
If that what keep me from
the cotton pickin' niggers, that what it be.
A small and reasonable price to be paid 'fo sure.
I knowed what it like to be the object
of Massa's predilections and peculiarities.
A lusty visit in the night,
or a visitation from the whip.
And you take comfort, Patsey;
the Good Lord will manage Epps.
In His own time the Good Lord will manage dem all.
...the curse on the Pharos is a poor example
of all that wait 'fo the plantation class.
This is nice .
Patsy?
Patsey!
- Do not look in his direction. Continue on.
Patsey...!
- Found her, Master,
and brought her back just as instructed.
What'd you jus now tell her?
What'd you say to Pats?
No words were spoken.
None of consequence.
Lie! Damned liar!
Saw you talkin' with 'er.
Tell me!
I cannot speak of what did not occur.
I'll cut your black throat.
- Master...
You come here!
- Master, i brought her back...
I said come here!

- I brought her back, just like you ...

Come here!
- Come on, let's go!
I got her, just as instructed.
Stay away from Patsy, boy !
It's the Lord's day .
Ain't nothin' Christian in us carryin' on like this.
I concede to yah,
but in the name of valor,
help yer master to his feet.
Wha's the fuss?
Master Epps believed Patsey and me
to be in conversation when we were not.
I tried to explain, but it lead to all this.
What is it? Ya cain't remain the Sabbath
without her under your eye?
Hold on...
- Ya are a no-account bastard.
A filthy, godless heathen.
My bed is too holy for yah ta share.
wha's he been tellin' yah?
- Of yer misbegotten ways.
And he would know what of anythin'?
I ain't even spoken with him today.
yah lyin' nigger, Platt.
Have I?
Have I?
There; there's all the truth he got.
Damned nigger.
Patsy ?
A moment from the dancing.
Come sample what I baked for y'all.
Thank you , mistress .
- Thank you , mistress .
Thank you, Mistress !
- Thank you, Mistress !
Thank you, mistress .
- There'll be none for you, Patsey.
Yah see that?
Did yah see the
look of insolence she give me?
Seen nothin' but her turn away.
- Are you blind or ignorant?
It was hot, hateful scorn.
It filled that black face.
Yah tell me yah did'n see it, then yah choose not to look,
or yah sayin' I lie.
Whatever it was, it passed.
Is that how yah are with the niggers?
Let every ill thought fester inside 'em.

Look at them .
They foul with it;
They foul with their hate.
You let it be,
it'll come back to us in the dark a night.
Yah want that?
Yah want them black animals to leave us
gut like pigs in our own sleep?
No...
You are manless.
A damned eunuch if ever there was.
And if yah won't stand for me,
I'd pray you'd at least be a credit to yer own kind..
and beat every foul thought from 'em.
Beat it from 'em!
Eat !
Fill yourselves.
...And
then we dance.
I said, eat!
Platt...
Platt, you awake?
I am.
I have a request .
an act of kindness.
I secreted it from the Mistress.
Return it!
- It yours, Platt.
For what cause?
All I ask:
end my life.
Take my body to the margin of the swamp-Take me by the throat.
Hold me low in the water...
until I's still 'n without life.
Bury me in a lonely place of dyin'.
- I will do no such thing.
The...the gory detail with which you speak-- I thought on it long and hard.
It is melancholia,
... nothing more.
How can you fall into such despair?
How can you not know?
I got no comfort in this life.
If I cain't buy mercy from yah,
I'll beg it.
There are others.
Beg them.
Why would you consign me to damnation
with such an un-Godly request?

- There is God here!

God is merciful...
...and He forgive merciful acts.
Won't be no hell for you.
Do it .
Do what I ain't got the strength ta do myself.
It is a plague.
Cotton worm.
- A plague! It's damn Biblical.
Two season God done sent a plague to smite me.
What I done that God hate me so?
It's that Godless lot.
They brought this on me.
I bring 'em God's word,
and heathens they are, they brung me God's scorn.
Damn you!
Damn you !
Damn all, you'all !
Judge?
- Mr. Epps .
I am deeply sadden to hear
about your misfortune.
Listen up.
Yer Judge Turner's for the season.
More if need be,
... until my crop return.
Yah'll bring no disrespect to me,
and yah'll bring no biblical plagues to him.
You hear?
Or I'll take all your skin.
Get out.
Get off the porch!??
Get off the porch !
Platt is it?
Yes , sir .
- Have you cultivated cane previously?
No, sir. I am not.
- You take to it quite naturally.
Are you educated?
- No, sir .
Niggers are hired to work,
not to read and write.
You play the fiddle?
- Yes , sir .
Yes, I do.
Willard Yarney, a planter up the bayou,
celebrates his anniversary in a three week's time.
I will hold out your name to him.
What you earn is yours to keep.
Yes, sir .

Mind yourself, Platt.

Woooo!
Joyous day it is ?
Joyous day?
Dark times is behind us.
Clean livin' 'n prayer
done lifted the plague.
As thick 'n white as New England snow.
'N now my niggers is returned to me.
Heard Judge Turner gave you favor.
Oh, did you beguile him, Platt,
with your slick nigger ways?
Well, yah won't stand idle, boy.
Not on my land.
Much work to do.
Days of old long since, eh?
huh?
Joyous! Joyous indeed!
Let's go find something sweet for you. Hmm?
Candy.
- Candy?
George?
- 180 pounds.
Patsey ?
- Five hundred twenty pounds for Patsey.
Tha's my girl.
Don't never let me down.
Platt?
- One hundred sixty pounds.
Armsby?
Sixty four pounds.
A good days labor would average two hundred pounds.
Yes, sir .
I'm sure in time y'll develope as a picker,
but it takes effort, boy.
Put some damn effort into it.
- Yes , sir .
Take 'em out.
Get to whippin'.
It's a tragedy.
How does such come to pass?
Working a field and picking cotton like a lowly hand.
I'm of a damn sight better station.
I've worked as an overseer, you know.
I did not know, sir.
- Not "sir."
Just Armsby.
Not owed more than any other in the field.
How did you get in that position ,
if I may ask?

Ask. It's just conversation.

I became a little too dependant on the whisky,
a little too undependable on the job.
Before you say I'm just a sorry drunkard,
... let me state my case:
As reliable employment as overseeing is,
... it's no easy chore on the spirit.
I say no man of conscious;
can take the lash to another human day in,
and day out without shredding at his own self.
Takes him to a place...
where he either makes excuses
within his mind to be unaffected...
Or finds some way to trample his guilty sensations.
Well, I trampled.
And with frequency.
I gave in to tales of wealth and prosperity;
But such profitable outcomes are reserved
for the plantation masters.
It's the lot of the rest of us to serve.
Now, I want nothing more
than to earn a decent wage..
And get myself home.
The proceeds of my fiddling performances.
A few picayunes,
but all I have in the world.
I promise them to you
if you will do me the favor I require.
But I beg you not to expose me
if you cannot grant the request.
What..
what is it that you ask?
- First, your word, sir.
On my honor.
It is a simple enough request.
I only that you deposit a letter
in the post office in Marksville.
And that you keep the action
an inviolable secret forever.
A patron is what I require, sir.
I'll do it .
And will accept whatever payment is offered.
To assist you, I put my own self at risk.
I will do so,
but fair compensation is all I ask.
Draw up your letter.
We will meet again.
In two days?
In two days.
...Thank you.

Well, boy.
I understand I've got a learned nigger
that writes letters..
and tries to get white fellows to mail 'em.
Well, Armsby tol' me today...
the devil was among my niggers.
That I had one that needed close watchin'
or he would run away.
When I asked him , "Why ?" ...
he said you come over to him...
and waked him up in the middle of the night,
and wanted him to carry a letter...
... to Marksville.
What have yah got to say to that?
There is no truth in it .
You say.
How could I write a letter without ink or paper?
Who am i going to write a letter.
There is no friends living as I know of.
That Armsby...
That Armsby is a lying drunken fellow.
Didn't he want you to hire him for an overseer?
That's it.
He wants to make you believe
we're all going to run away..
and so, you'll hire an overseer to watch us.
He believes you are soft soap.
He's given to such talk.
made this story a lie, out of whole cloth,
'cause he wants to get a situation.
It's all a lie, master,
It's all a lie.
I'll be damned .
Were he not free and white, Platt.
Were he not free and white.
Edward?
Give him water !
I just want to say something ...
'bout Uncle Abram .
He was a good man..
...and always looked out for us ,
ever since we were little.
God loved him .
God has blessed
God keep him.
Amen .
Wait till the end.
Hey, Bass?
No, no, no ...
No shame in taking respite from the heat;

drink, shade.
It's ungodly for travelers.
Hearty, or otherwise.
What's funny ?
- Epps, I'm here to complete the work at hand.
As requested
and as paid for.
Something rubs you wrongly.
I offer you the oppo..
...and making you a slave?
Suppose.
- That ain't a supposable case.
Laws change, Epps.
Universal truths are constant.
It is a fact,
a plain fact that what is true and right..
is true and right for all.
White and black alike.
Yah compare me to a nigger, Bass?
I only ask, in the eye's of God..
What's the difference ?
Yah might as well ask what the difference
is between a white man and a baboon.
Now, I seen one of them critters in Orleans..
that knowed just as much as any nigger I got.
Listen, Eps ...
These niggers are human beings.
If they are allowed to scale no higher than brute animals,
you and men like you will have to answer for it.
There's an ill, Mr. Epps .
A fearful ill, resting on this nation-There will be a day of reckoning yet.
You like to hear yourself talk, Bass,
better than any man I know of.
Yah'd argue that black was white, or white black
if anybody would contradict you.
A fine supposition if yah lived
among Yankees in New England.
But yah don't.
You most assuredly do not.
I know it's somewhere in there !
Patsey!
Pats!
Where is she ?
Where the Pats ?
Where is she? Where the Pats'?
Whatcha just standing there?
We know nothin' of her, Massa.
- The hell you don't!
We do not know anything about ...

- About what?
Where did she go?
- I do not know .
She run off, ain't she?
- I do not know anything .
She ran off!
Where is it?
You know it! You know it! You know it!
- No, no, no ...
No i don't.
you miserable black dogs stand like
the deef and dumb.
Speak!
She gone...
My Pats gone.
Run off. Run off, did you?
Massa Epps-- You miserable wench! Where you been?
I been nowhere.
- Lies to your misdeeds!
The Sabbath day, Massa.
I took me a walk to commune wit da Lord.
Bring the Lord into yer deceptions?
Comin' from Shaw's plantation weren't yah?
...No...
- Now yah speak?
Now that yah want to add to
'er lies yah find yer tongue!
I went to Massa Shaw's plantation!
You admit it ?
- Yes .
Freely. And you know why.
I got this from Mistress Shaw.
Mistress Epps won't even grant me
no soap ta clean with.
Stink so much I make myself gag.
Five hundred pounds 'a cotton
day in, day out!
More than any man here.
And 'fo that I will be clean;
that all I ask.
Dis here what I went to Shaw's 'fo.
Liar! Liar!
- Lord knows it all !
You lie!
- And you blind wit yer own covetousness.
I don't lie, Massa.
If you kill me, I'll stick ta that.
Yeah, I'll set you down.
I'll learn you to go to Shaw's.

Treach!
Go fetch some line.
Edward?
Strip her.
Strike her bare 'n lash her to the post.
No!
Yah done this to yerself, Pats!
Do it !
Strike the life from her.
Beat her.
Give her the whip.
Give it all to her!
Plat , come here
and play it immediately !
Platt!
Come here!
PATSEY: I'd rather it you, Platt.
Strike her.
Strike her.
He pantomimes.
There ain't barely a welt on her.
That's what your niggers make of yah;
a fool fer the takin'.
Strike her, Platt!
Strike her.
Yah will strike her.
Yah will strike her until her flesh is rent..
and meat and blood flow equal,
or I will kill every nigger in my sight!
Do you understand me ?
Strike her!
Strike her!
Until I say no more!
I ain't said nothing!
Give me the whip !
Give it!
Give me the whip !
Get up!
You're the devil!
Sooner or later...
somewhere in the course of eternal justice
thou shalt answer for this sin!
Sin? There is no sin.
A man does how he pleases with his property.
At the moment, Platt, I am of great pleasure.
You be goddamn careful
I don't come to wantin' to lightenin' my mood no further.
Master Bass,
I want to ask you
what part of the country you came from?

No part of this land.

I was born in Canada.
Now guess where that is.
Oh, I know where Canada is.
I have been there myself.
Montreal and
Kingston and Queenston
and a great many places.
Well traveled for a slave.
How came you here?
Master Bass,
if justice had been done
I never would have been here.
How's this?
Tell me all.
I am afraid to tell you.
Every word you speak is a profound secret.
Your story ...
...it is amazing, and in no good way.
Do you believe , sir ...
..in justice as you have said?
Yes , I do.
- That slavery is an evil that should befall none?
I believe so .
- If you truly do,
Then, I would ask...
I would beg...
that you write my friends in the north,
acquainting them with my situation..
and beseeching them to forward;
free papers.
It would be...
an unspeakable happiness;
To see my wife
and my family again.
I've been traveling this country for
the best part of twenty years.
My freedom is everything.
The fact that I can walk out of here tomorrow
gives me most pleasure.
My life doesn't mean much to anyone,
but it seems your life means a lot to a lot of people.
About what you're asking me..
Sir, scares me.
I must say, I am afraid.
Not just for you, but for me.
I will write your letter sir,
for if I could bring freedom,
it will be more than a pleasure.
...it will be my duty.

Now, would you be so kindly

hand me those sickles?
Platt...? Where is the boy called Platt?
Come here, boy .
Your name is Platt, is it?
Yes, sir.
Do you know that man?
Mr. Parker... ?
Say again?
Mr. Parker?
That man received a letter
compiling many accusations.
You look me in the eye...
and on your life answer me truthfully:
have you any other name than Platt?
Solomon Northup is my name.
- Sheriff...What's all this?
It's official business.
- My nigga 's my job .
Your business waits.
Tell me of your family.
- I have a wife and two children.
... two. - What the hell ?
- What were your children's names?
Margaret and Alonzo.
- And your wife's name before her marriage?
Anne Hampton.
I am who I say.
Where are you going, Platt ?
Who authorized you to roam
on my property? - My mistake .
Platt, come back here!
Platt!
Come back here, boy !
Nah... You will unhand 'em.
Platt is my nigger!
He is Mr. Solomon Nortap !
- You say...
You come here, humiliate me
and make claims.
I have no doubts.
This is Solomon Northup,
To hell with that! My nigger,
and I'll fight you for 'em!
As is your right.
As it will be my pleasure
to bankrupt you in the courts.
Your decision.
Unhand him !
You think this is the last you'll see of me, boy?

It ain't.
I paid fairly for this nigga !
The court has the documents to prove it!
And we have the documents also
proving that it is free !
I own you !
You belong to me ! Can you hear me ?
Keep your hands off him !
- The court will take you back before sundown!
Platt!
- Get my horse, please.
Get away from him, Pats' !
I'll be seeing you real soon.
Solomon?
I apologize...
for my appearance.
But I have had..
a difficult time....
...these past many years
Margaret?
Alonzo ?
Who is this?
This is my husband .
Husband ...
It is very good to meet you, sir.
We have much acquainting to do.
Yes , sir .
And this ...
...is your grandson .
Solomon Northup Staunton.
Solomon .
Forgive me .
There is nothing to forgive.