After being kidnapped from New York and sold into slavery, Solomon Northup uses his skills and carefully placed trust to survive and seek a way back to his family.
- Scenes 1–29
Solomon lives freely in Saratoga as a husband, father, worker, and musician.
- Scenes 30–65
Kidnapped and held under the imposed name Platt, Solomon must preserve his life and identity.
- Scene 86
Ford takes Solomon, Harry, and Eliza from Freeman; Eliza is dragged away from Emily, committing Solomon to plantation life and its family separations.
- Scene 87
Ford brings Solomon and the other captives into plantation life; Solomon must survive within a system that denies his identity.
- Just before
- Scene 119
Tibeats attacks Solomon over the nails, but Solomon beats him off; Chapin shields Solomon from Tibeats’s returning lynch party with pistols, then leaves Solomon hanging while he sends for Ford.
- Scene 120
Hours later, Solomon still hangs from the tree as work and play continue around him; Chapin watches with pistols but does nothing to ease his suffering.
- Scene 121
As Solomon hangs in the heat, Rachel secretly gives him water and wipes his lips before leaving him suspended.
- Scene 122
This scene
