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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What inspired Solomon to want to help William Ford in the transporting of lumber?

2. What did Solomon believe to be a contributing factor toward William Ford owning slaves despite the fact that he was a Christian?

3. For the most part, how did Solomon consider his life as a slave for William Ford to be?

4. What separated William Ford from other slave owners in Bayou Bœuf?

5. Which adjective pair best described Solomon, his brother, and father?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 7 of the book, what set William Ford apart from the way that other slave owners treated their slaves?

2. As Chapter 2 ends, and Chapter 3 begins, how did Solomon discover that he was being held in slavery?

3. In Chapter 2 of the book, why did Solomon decide to leave Saratoga Springs and head for New York?

4. In Chapter 5 of the story, how could Englishman John Manning be described in relation to Solomon?

5. In Chapter 6 of the book, how did slave dealer Theoplilus Freeman treat the slaves whom he owned?

6. In the opening Chapter of the book, what did Solomon Northrup acknowledge as a contributing factor in his decision to write his book?

7. In Chapter 7 of the book, how could Solomon's new master, William Ford be characterized?

8. In Chapter 3 of the book, what type of role did Jacob Brooks play in the life of Eliza?

9. In Chapter 7 of the book, how was Solomon's new master, John M. Tibeats different from William Ford?

10. In Chapter 2 of the book, how did Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton persuade Solomon to travel to New York with them?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the age of 33, Solomon's name was changed to "Platt" by slave trader, Theophilus Freeman. It was an unwanted name that Solomon was forced to keep during the twelve years that he was enslaved; and it nearly kept him from being located by Lawyer Henry B. Northrup as his days in slavery were about to come to an end.

Discuss whether the name, "Platt" affected Solomon throughout his life as a slave. If it affected him, explain how; and how he coped with or adjusted to having to live by "Platt" during the time of his enslavement.

If in the alternative in your estimation, the name change did not affect him, explain why that was; and how you were able to tell.

Essay Topic 2

When introduced to the reader, Eliza was an elegant and confident lady. She was well-dressed in silks and jewelry, envisioning a life in freedom for herself and her children; and could not understand why she was standing in Williams’ Slave Pen in Washington City. Within a short period of time however, a very changed and different Eliza came into view.

What were the changes that took place in Eliza? Detail the changes. Were there any events that took place in the life of Eliza that triggered those changes? If yes, detail the event(s). If no, detail any other factor(s) that caused Eliza to change.

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the book, Author Solomon Northrup discussed the fact that planters treated their slaves as property. Northrup described how slave after slave was beaten by his or her planter, to the point of scarring them, thus lowering the slave’s value; or causing immobilization to the point that the slave was no longer able to work.

Should the planters’ behavior in beating their slaves therefore, been considered self-destructive in nature since in essence upon beating their slaves, the planters were reducing the value of or destroying their own property? Please state your position, plus list and discuss the reason(s) upon which you are relying to support your position.

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