John eventually met up, recognized each other immediately, and brought their case against Merrill and Russell. John saw them, they had come into some newfound wealth: They carried ivory canes and sported gold watches. John, who knew them, not use their real names around Northup. Their real names were Alexander Merrill and Joseph Russell, but they asked that St.

John of New York, read the book soon after its release, and realized that he himself had run into the two kidnappers when they were with Northup. “Hamilton” and “Brown” weren’t even their real names. Northup came around to accepting their role in his kidnapping and unlawful sale-an unusual occurrence, but not unique to Northup-soon after the book was published. “Though suspicions of Brown and Hamilton were not unfrequent,” he writes, “ I could not reconcile myself to the idea that they were instrumental to my imprisonment.” He notes that he got extraordinary headaches after having a drink with them one night, and became sick and delirious soon afterward, but cannot conclude with assurety that he was poisoned. In his book, Northup refused to say whether Hamilton and Brown were guilty of his kidnapping. The Kidnappers “Hamilton” and “Brown” (Scoot McNairy and Taran Killam)īrown (Scoot McNairy), Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), and Hamilton (Taran Killam). She’s back in hell, and that’s when she turns and cries.” Then after she’s climaxed, she’s back where she was. McQueen has said of the scene: “I just wanted a bit of tenderness-the idea of this woman reaching out for sexual healing in a way, to quote Marvin Gaye. She grabs his hand and uses it to bring herself to orgasm. The movie prefaces its scenes of Northup in New York with a flash-forward that is McQueen and Ridley’s invention: Solomon, while enslaved, turns to find an unidentified woman in bed with him. His wife and children were away when he was offered an unusually profitable gig from his eventual kidnappers, who called themselves Hamilton and Brown. As in the movie, he was married to Anne Hampton, who was of mixed race, and they had three children-Elizabeth, Margaret, and Alonzo. Solomon was born a free man and received an unusually good education for a black man of his time, eventually coming to work as a violinist and a carpenter. Solomon Northup was the son of Mintus Northup, who was a slave in Rhode Island and New York until his master freed him in his will.

12 years a slave story