erience of slavery and of flight, led him to conclude that "no man who has never been placed in such a situation, can comprehend the thousand obstacles thrown in the way of the flying slave." Nor did he believe that a rebellion of slaves alone could succeed. Whether the words are his or Wilson's, his conclusion is based on his experience: "More than once I have joined in serious consultation [about rebellion], and there have been times when a word from me would have placed hundreds of my fellow-bondsmen in an attitude of defiance. Without arms or ammunition, or even with them I saw such a step would result in certain defeat, disaster and death, and always raised my voice against it." Rebellion as a survival strategy had only worked for him when combined with negotiation. There is one further theme that runs throughout Twelve Years A Slave: a response to presumptions that Northup's tale is an invention, not a history. As stated in the narrative itself, Northup's kidnaping and return occurred as slavery was becoming perhaps the central topic of political discussion in the United States. In those heated times, pro-slavery advocates stood staunchly by the rhetoric of benignly paternal planters and happy, infantile slaves a picture directly challenged by the facts of Northup's story, the chicanery of his abduction, and the brutality he endured and witnessed. As a black man, his word was worth little he was not even allowed to testify at the Washington trial of Burch, the slave-dealer who illegally purchased him, solely because he was a "colored man the fact of [his] being a free citizen of New-York state not being disputed." The parallels to Uncle Tom's Cabin noted by contemporary accounts could easily have been twisted to deny the truth of Northup's story. The narrative itself addresses this question of truthfulness directly and early on: "It is necessary in this narrative... to speak of well-known places, and of many persons...
