Patsey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Patsey
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sketch from Solomon Northup's book
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| Born | around 1830 |
| Died | after 1863 |
| Known for | Twelve Years a Slave |
Patsey (ca. 1830–after 1863) was an African-American enslaved woman. Solomon Northup wrote about her in his book Twelve Years a Slave, which is the source for most of the information known about her. There have been two adaptations of the book in film, Solomon Northup's Odyssey in 1984 and the better known 12 Years a Slave, in 2013. In the latter Patsey was portrayed by Lupita Nyong'o, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.
Life
Patsey's mother was said to have been from Guinea, enslaved and taken to Cuba. She was then sold to a family named Buford in the Southern United States. Patsey is believed to have been born around 1830, in South Carolina.
In 1843, when she was 13, she was sold to Edwin Epps in Louisiana. According to Northup, Edwin Epps had "repulsive and coarse" manners and did not have a sense "of kindness or of justice."
Epps leased the Bayou Huffpower plantation from Joseph B. Robert, his wife's uncle. In 1845, Epps moved Patsey and other enslaved people to his 300-acre plantation near Bunkie in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. Solomon Northup and Patsey became friends on the Epps plantation. Known as the "queen of the fields", Patsey was often praised by her owner for her ability to pick large amounts of cotton, up to 500 pounds a day. Northup said that she was unlike the other slaves and had a spirit that was unwavering in its strength. She had been "a joyous creature, a laughing, light-hearted girl" who fervently dreamed of freedom.
Northup knew Patsey for almost a decade. As he was about to leave the Epps plantation in 1853, he said that:
Patsey ran from behind a cabin and threw her arms about my neck. 'Oh! Platt [the name given to Northup by his kidnappers],' she cried, tears streaming down her face, 'you're goin' to be free—you're goin' way off yonder where we'll neber see ye any more. You've saved me a good many whipping, Platt; I'm glad you're goin' to be free—but oh! de Lord, de Lord! what'll become of me?
Northup then boarded a carriage to freedom and he never saw her again. In 1854, his book Twelve Years a Slave was published. Almost ten years after, during the American Civil War, the 110th New York Infantry Regiment came to the plantation. They met Bob, one of the enslaved men mentioned in Northup's book, which several of the soldiers had read. Patsey left the plantation in May 1863 with the Union soldiers. Her life and fate thereafter is unknown.
Popular culture
The 2013 film 12 Years a Slave was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. With renewed interest from the film, historians continue to research in hopes of pinpointing more specifically what happened to her.
See also
In Spanish: Patsey para niños
- List of people who disappeared
