Patsey

Patsey
sketch from Solomon Northup's book The staking out and flogging of the girl named Patsey
Born	around 1830 South Carolina
Known for	Twelve Years a Slave

Patsey was an enslaved African-American woman who lived in the mid 19th century. Another enslaved person, Solomon Northup (who was later freed), wrote about her in his book Twelve Years a Slave. The book was later adapted into a film, in which she was portrayed by Lupita Nyong'o, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.

In the book, Northup writes that Patsey's mother was from Guinea, enslaved and taken to Cuba. Her mother was then sold to a family named Buford in the Southern region of the United States. Patsey is believed to have been born around 1830, in South Carolina. The earliest record of Patsey as a slave is in 1843, when she was 13. She was sold to a man named Edwin Epps in Louisiana.

Solomon Northup and Patsey became friends after he arrived on the Epps plantation. Northup wrote in his book that Patsey was the queen of the fields on the plantation and was often praised by her owner for her ability to pick large amounts of cotton. Northup also wrote that Patsey was unlike the other slaves and had a sense of spirit that was unwavering in its strength. Epps's wife Mary became jealous when Epps started raping Patsey, who would have been under the age of 18 when he began assaulting her. Mary demanded her husband sell Patsey, but he refused to do so, as detailed by Northup in the book, and Mary also began to physically abuse Patsey. In his book, Northup wrote that Mary tried to bribe other workers and slaves to kill Patsey and dump her body in the swamps, but no one would. Even though Patsey was a highly productive slave and a favorite of Epps, she was not given special treatment.

Though Northup described Patsey as "a joyous creature, a laughing, light-hearted girl," the intense brutality she suffered, caught between "a licentious master and a jealous mistress" drove her wish for death. Yet Patsey, like Northup, also dreamed fervently of freedom.

Patsey was often whipped and had many scars on her back. Northup wrote that on one occasion she was scourged to the point of near death because she had gone to a neighboring plantation for a bar of soap. When Epps found out she had left his plantation, he had her tied to a stake and ordered Solomon to whip her. After hearing the mistress whispering in his ear to discipline her, Epps then took the whip himself until, as described in Northup's book, she was "literally flayed" from over 50 lashes. He wrote that after this experience he and Patsey were severely traumatized and that he had never forgotten what Patsey endured during the time he knew her.