Obviously, Burch beat Northup on his bare behind which certainly must have welted the skin. With this description, it is easy to see the brutal severity of such treatment which was often used not only as a form of punishment but also as a form of intimidation and as a warning not to attempt to escape. For Northup, this experience truly changed his outlook on living as a slave, for he admits that during the writing of his narrative, "Even now (my) flesh crawls upon my bones as I recall the scene. I was all on fire. My sufferings I can compare to nothing else than the burning agonies of hell!" (45).

As told in Chapter Seven, sometime later, after being sold into slavery by Burch and his band of slave traders, Northup found himself in New Orleans, where he encountered his new master, William Ford, who lived in the...
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