Twelve Years a Slave, Chapter 1 summary

What happens

1. The narrator states that he is born free, suffers twelve years of slavery, and regains freedom in January 1853.
2. He describes his father's emancipation, farming, moral teaching, and efforts to educate his sons.
3. He marries Anne Hampton and supports their household through canal work, rafting, woodcutting, and farming.
4. On their Kingsbury farm, his violin playing and Anne's cooking supplement their income, and the household prospers.
5. They move to Saratoga Springs, where he works various jobs and encourages enslaved visitors to seek freedom.
6. He describes his three beloved children and closes at the threshold of captivity, without recounting the kidnapping itself.

In this chapter

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