James H. Birch (slave trader)
James H. Birch (fl. 1841) was an American slave trader, tried for kidnapping but acquitted in the District of Columbia.
![](../I/m/Slave_pen._Price%2C_Birch_%26_Co._dealers_in_slaves_01467v.jpg)
Birch was responsible for the kidnapping and selling of Solomon Northup, a free man, in Washington in 1841. Northup wrote a memoir of his time as a slave, Twelve Years a Slave.
Birch later presided over Alexandria’s largest slave pen at 1315 Duke St, operating as Price, Birch and Co. The building is now Freedom House Museum (in Alexandria, Virginia).[1][2]
Birch was tried but acquitted for the kidnap of Northup. Birch was acquitted in part because the law did not allow Solomon Northup, a black man, to give evidence. Following his acquittal, Birch demanded charges be filed against Solomon Northup for trying to defraud him, but then withdrew the case.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
References
- Alexandria Times Staff (2013-11-07). "Out of the Attic: Notorious local slave dealer had hand in Solomon Northup's kidnapping | Alexandria Times | Alexandria, VA". Retrieved 2020-06-09.
- "Freedom House Museum | Alexandria, VA 22314". www.visitalexandriava.com. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
- "The Kidnapping Case: Narrative of the Seizure and Recovery of Solomon Northrup" (PDF). The New York Times. January 20, 1853. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
- "Narrative of the Seizure and Recovery of Solomon Northrup". New York Times. Documenting the American South. University of North Carolina. January 20, 1853.
- Author New York Times. "The Kidnapping Case: Narrative of the Seizure and Recovery of Solomon Northrup | Teaching Tolerance". Tolerance.org. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
- Doherty, Prudence (2014-03-06). "Chronicling America Dispatches: Vermont Papers Tell the Story of Solomon Northup | National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)". Neh.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
- "Alexandria Plans To Purchase Historic Slave Pen-Turned-Museum". WAMU. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
- VTDNP. "Vermont Papers Tell the Story of Solomon Northup | Vermont Digital Newspaper Project (VTDNP)". Library.uvm.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-09.