Who Edwin Epps is
Edwin Epps is one of the enslavers under whom Solomon Northup works in Louisiana. Under Epps, daily life is governed by exhausting labor in the cotton fields and repeated violence.
Northup describes plantation work through its demands, including planting, harvesting, and work quotas. His account places this labor alongside the threats and punishments that deny enslaved people control over their bodies and time.
Edwin Epps and the others in the story
Epps's relationship with Northup is that of an enslaver controlling an enslaved person's labor. He appears alongside other enslavers in a memoir that distinguishes individual kindness from the institution of human ownership.
Under Epps, Northup describes a daily life shaped by violence as well as demanding cotton-field work.
Questions
Who is Edwin Epps?
Edwin Epps is a violent enslaver in Solomon Northup's memoir Twelve Years a Slave.
How is Edwin Epps connected to Solomon Northup?
Epps holds Northup in slavery in Louisiana and controls his labor.
What is life like under Edwin Epps?
Life under Epps involves exhausting cotton-field labor and repeated violence.
