Day 2

Twelve Years a Slave Lesson Plan

Discussion of Thought Questions

  1. 1

    How does Northup portray religion in the various places he is enslaved?

    Most of the slave owners or traders that Northup encounters profess to be Christian. Several are extremely pious, the most notable among them Ford, who seems to be the only one who takes the tenets of Christianity to heart. Another slave owner uses readings of scripture as a way of lecturing those he has enslaved, and telling them that their enslaved status is condoned by God. Northup finds it baffling (as would most contemporary readers) and deeply hypocritical that Christian faith and the cruelty of slavery could coexist so firmly in Southern culture.

  2. 2

    In what way is Ford different from his fellow...

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