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 94
Ford reads Scripture about loving one’s neighbor to the gathered slaves, while Eliza sits apart and weeps over her children.
- Scene 95
Walton’s gang continues the difficult work of cutting timber in the hot woods.
- Scene 96
The workers make the long walk from the woods back to the mill.
- Scene 97
This scene
