The next day, the trio arrives in New York City. The show is comprised of a series of bizarre circus acts, including ventriloquism and “frying pancakes in a hat.” The turnout is meager, and the show barely generates any money. Hamilton, Brown, and Solomon depart for New York, first stopping in Albany to put on a show-the only show Solomon witnesses during his entire trip with them. Due to the brevity of the trip, he decides not to write to Anne to tell her where he's going. They ask Solomon if he would consider traveling with them as their fiddle player to New York City-only a short trip-in exchange for daily wages and a bonus for each show they put on. They planned to pay their travel expenses by putting on small shows in each place they visit but have had difficulty in finding a musician for their shows. and say that they’re in New York for the sake of sightseeing.

Hamilton and Brown explain their connection to a circus based in Washington D.C. Brooding over how he can make a little extra money, Solomon runs into two dignified white men named Abram Hamilton and Merrill Brown, who have heard from one of Solomon’s acquaintances about Solomon’s talent on the violin. His wife and eldest daughter are twenty miles away at the coffee shop where his wife works as a cook, and his other two children are with their aunt. One March morning in 1841, Solomon walks around the village in Saratoga Springs, New York, where he currently lives with his family. He loves his family dearly and is a tender father and loyal husband. To support his wife, Anne, and their three children, Elizabeth, Margaret, and Alonzo, Solomon works hard at several jobs, be it raft-making or fiddle-playing. The son of a liberated slave, Solomon grows up hearing of the atrocities of slavery but knowing freedom. Solomon Northup was born a free man in New York. The narrative opens with a promise from narrator and protagonist, Solomon Northup, that the following story will “not be uninteresting to the public.” He tells the reader that the pages to come will detail his life as a free man of the North, his subsequent kidnapping, his twelve miserable years in slavery, and his eventual rescue.

Twelve years a slave book