Character guide

Solomon Northup

major

Also known as Solomon, Northup, Sol, Solomon Northup Staunton, said Solomon, said Solomon Northup

Solomon Northup was born free, married, and worked as a skilled laborer near Glens Falls until a false promise of employment delivered him into a Washington slave pen. Stripped of his legal identity and renamed 'Platt,' he must weigh the danger of speaking his true name against the daily necessity of enduring men who own him. His double consciousness—free citizen and chattel at once—drives the book's central question of whether law or memory can restore a man erased.

Master Tibeats

supporting

Also known as Tibeats, Mr. Tibeats, carpenter Tibeats, John M. Tibeats, John

Tibeats is a small-scale slaveholder and carpenter whose meanness is so widely recognized that even fellow whites hold him in 'light estimation.' He resents Solomon's competence and answers it with curses, impossible demands, and sudden violence, forcing Solomon to weigh obedience against the lethal cost of resistance. Their clashes establish, early on, that a slave's life can hinge on the mood of a man no one respects.

Elizabeth

supporting

Also known as Eliza

Eliza shares a cabin with Solomon on Ford's plantation, where she mothers the people around her even as her own children are sold away. When Solomon returns from his desperate flight, she tells him plainly that drowning might have been kinder than living under a cruel master. Her grief and her caregiving give the early chapters their emotional weight, showing that the system's cruelty is measured in severed families.

Bass

supporting

Also known as Master Bass, Mr. Bass, XX Bass

Bass works in the Bayou Boeuf region and speaks his anti-slavery views openly, a dangerous habit in a parish built on bondage. When Solomon dares to confide his true identity, Bass must decide whether a stranger's word is worth the peril of acting on it. His letters and testimony set the rescue machinery in motion, making him the rare white man in the narrative whose conscience outweighs his comfort.

Master Epps

major

Also known as Epps, Young Master Epps, Edwin Epps, old Epps, said Edwin Epps, Massa Epps

Epps owns the Louisiana plantation where Solomon spends his longest years, and he rules through whips, caprice, and a jealousy that poisons everyone near him. His obsession with Patsey turns his wife into an enemy of the same enslaved girl, so that master and mistress compete in cruelty. Epps embodies the book's argument that slavery corrupts the enslaver as thoroughly as it destroys the enslaved.

Patsey

major

Also known as unfortunate Patsey, Poor Patsey, tortured Patsey

Patsey picks more cotton than anyone on the Epps place and draws the master's attention in ways that make her mistress hate her. She walks miles to borrow a piece of soap from a neighbor, a small errand that Epps twists into a pretext for unspeakable punishment. Her dignity under the lash, and Solomon's forced complicity in it, form the moral center of the Louisiana chapters.

James H. Burch

supporting

Also known as Burch, H. Burch, Jim, Master Burch

Burch operates a slave pen in the nation's capital, trafficking in human beings while presenting himself as a legitimate businessman. When Solomon insists on his free status, Burch responds with the lash and a threat of death, revealing the raw violence beneath the commerce. Years later, when Solomon returns with legal counsel, Burch's panic and frantic search for his old partner Shekels expose the cowardice behind his cruelty. He matters because he is the instrument of Solomon's initial downfall, the moment a free man becomes property.

Wiley

minor

Also known as poor Wiley

A fellow slave on Epps' plantation; often suffers alongside others.

Platt

major

Also known as Poor Platt, Platt Ford, Ford, Platt Epps

Platt is the identity Solomon must inhabit to survive, a Georgia-born slave with no wife, no children, no freedom waiting in the North. He is sold, inspected, priced, and displayed like livestock, his musical talent making him more valuable while his intelligence makes him more dangerous. The tension between who he is and who he must pretend to be runs through every transaction, every beating, every moment of hope. He matters because his endurance is the book's spine, the long middle passage between a free life lost and a free life regained.

Henry B. Northup

supporting

Also known as Mr. Northup, Northup, Henry, Harry, Henry B., Mr. Henry B. Northup

Henry B. Northup is a white attorney and relative of the family that held Solomon's ancestors in bondage, a fact that gives him both access and obligation. He takes up Solomon's cause not as a distant philanthropist but as a man bound by history, corresponding with officials, tracing records, and navigating the legal machinery of a slaveholding state. His perseverance matters because it transforms Solomon's story from a tale of endurance into one of deliverance, proving that the ties between the two families run deeper than ownership.

Mistress Epps

supporting

Also known as Epps, Mrs. Epps

Mistress Epps occupies the strange position of a white woman with power over slaves but no power over her husband's desires, and she takes her humiliation out on Patsey's back. She orders Solomon to whip the girl without provocation, and when he refuses, she escalates her campaign of torment. Her jealousy is not tragic but vicious, and it spreads to Epps himself, turning both master and mistress into a single engine of punishment. She matters because she shows how slavery corrupts even those it supposedly protects, making cruelty a household routine.

Theophilus Freeman

supporting

Also known as Freeman, Mr. Theophilus Freeman, Theophilus

Freeman runs a slave pen where human beings are stripped, inspected, and priced, and he prides himself on moving inventory quickly. He enlarges on Solomon's musical attainments to close a sale, then turns on Eliza with a raised whip when her grief threatens to slow the transaction. His savagery is not personal but professional, a reminder that the market itself is the machine of cruelty. He matters because he is the threshold between Solomon's old life and the Louisiana plantations, the man who converts a kidnapped free man into a commodity.

Master Ford

supporting

Also known as Ford, Mr. Ford, William Ford

Ford treats Solomon with a decency rare in the book, calling him by his real name and trusting him with carpentry work, yet he is also a slaveholder whose financial embarrassments require him to sell eighteen people, Solomon among them. His kindness is real but insufficient, a reminder that even benevolent masters participate in a system that treats human beings as collateral. When he sells Solomon to the brutal Tibeats, he takes a chattel mortgage that will later save Solomon's life, a gesture that is both mercenary and merciful. He matters because he complicates the moral landscape, showing that slavery corrupts even those who mean well.

Little Emily

minor

Also known as Emily, little Emmy, Emmy

Eliza's young daughter, sold away from her mother.

Uncle Abram

minor

Also known as Abram, uncle Abram, venerable Uncle Abram

An elderly slave on Epps' plantation.

Mintus Northup

minor

Also known as Mintus, said Mintus Northup, said Mintus

Solomon's father, a free black man.

Overseer Chapin

minor

Also known as Chapin, a Mr. Chapin

An overseer on Ford's plantation.

Anne Hampton

supporting

Also known as Anne, said Anne Hampton

Anne Hampton keeps a free life in New York—long service in the Baird household at Sandy Hill and in Reverend Proudfit's family at Salem has given her standing, counsel, and gratitude rather than hardship. Her three-race lineage gives her a rare and pleasing look, and Solomon's love for her is sincere and unabated, yet her dependence on his labor makes the family's security fragile. That very tenderness sharpens the poignancy of his later suffering, and her presence in the opening chapters establishes exactly what is at stake when he disappears.

Aunt Phebe

minor

Also known as Phebe

An elderly slave woman on Epps' plantation.

Arthur

minor

A slave on a neighboring plantation.

Clem Ray

minor

Also known as Clem, Rachel, Clemens Ray, Ray

A slave on Epps' plantation.

Lawson

minor

A slave on Epps' plantation.

Armsby

minor

Also known as that Armsby

A white man who betrays Solomon's escape plan.

Robert

minor

Also known as Lambert

A slave on a neighboring plantation.

Mary

minor

Also known as Miss Mary McCoy, McCoy, young Mistress McCoy

A young woman on a neighboring plantation.

Anne Northup

minor

Also known as Ann Northup

Solomon's daughter.

Peter

minor

Also known as Peter Tanner, Tanner, old Peter Tanner

A free black man who assists in Solomon's rescue.

Shaw

minor

A slave driver on Epps' plantation.

Celeste

minor

A slave woman on Epps' plantation.

Mr. Avery

minor

Also known as Avery

A neighbor and friend of the Epps family.

Bob

minor

A slave on Epps' plantation.

Sam

minor

Also known as Sam Roberts, Samuel

A slave on Epps' plantation.

Mr. Waddill

minor

Also known as Waddill, young Waddill, lawyer Waddill

A lawyer who assists in legal matters for Epps.

Mr. Eldret

minor

Also known as Eldret

A slaveholder who hires Solomon for a time.

Ebenezer Radburn

minor

Also known as Radburn

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

Mr. Marshall

minor

Also known as Marshall

A neighbor of Epps.

Mrs. Chapin

minor

Also known as Chapin

Wife of Overseer Chapin.

Carey

minor

Also known as Henry, Harry Carey

A slave on Epps' plantation.

Benjamin O. Shekels

minor

Also known as Benjamin, Shekels

A slave trader involved in Solomon's transport.

Augustus

minor

Also known as August

A slave on Epps' plantation.

Randall

minor

Eliza's young son, sold away from her.

Lethe

minor

A slave woman on Epps' plantation.

Margaret

minor

A slave woman on Epps' plantation.

Elisha Berry

minor

Also known as Berry, old Elisha Berry

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

Sally

minor

A slave woman on Epps' plantation.

James Buford

minor

Also known as Buford, Jim

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

Williams

minor

Also known as John Williams

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

Lew Cheney

minor

Also known as Lew

A slave trader who kidnaps Solomon.

Taydem

minor

Also known as Adam Taydem, Adam

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

Kentucky John

minor

A slave on Epps' plantation.

Manning

minor

Also known as John Manning, John

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

Walton

minor

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

Timothy Eddy

minor

Also known as Edward

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

Abram Hamilton

minor

Also known as Hamilton

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

Myers

minor

A slave trader who transports Solomon.

Uncle Tom

minor

Also known as Tom

A slave on Epps' plantation.

Mr. William Perry

minor

Also known as William, William Perry, Perry

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

Merrill Brown

minor

Also known as Brown

One of the men who kidnaps Solomon.

Nelly

minor

A slave woman on Epps' plantation.

Pete Marshall

minor

Also known as Marshall

A slave on Epps' plantation.

Rose

minor

A slave woman on Epps' plantation.

Miss Lively

minor

Also known as Lively

A slave woman on Epps' plantation.

Mr. Jacob Brooks

minor

Also known as Mr. Brooks, Jacob Brooks

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

Mr. Goodin

minor

Also known as Goodin

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

Maria

minor

A slave woman on Epps' plantation.

Joseph

minor

Also known as Joseph B. Roberts, Joseph B., Roberts

A slave on Epps' plantation.

Alonzo

minor

A slave on Epps' plantation.

Mistress Ford

minor

Wife of Master Ford.

John Gilpin

minor

Also known as John

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

Messrs. Parker

minor

Also known as Parker

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

David McEachron

minor

Also known as David

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

Judge Turner

minor

Also known as Turner

A judge who hears Solomon's case.

Mr. O'Niel

minor

Also known as O'Niel

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

Charles Hughes

minor

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

William Hampton

minor

Also known as said William Hampton

Anne Hampton's father.

Mr. Cephas Parker

minor

Also known as Cephas Parker, Parker

A lawyer who assists in Solomon's rescue.

Mr. Martin

minor

Also known as Martin

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

John David Cheney

minor

Also known as Cheney

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

Jim Burns

minor

A slave on Epps' plantation.

Mr. Roberts

minor

Also known as Roberts

A slaveholder who hires Solomon.

Joseph H. Bradley

minor

Also known as Joseph

A lawyer who assists in Solomon's rescue.